Circularity goal

Progress during the last year

We maintained our continuous work as well as to run projects at our manufacturing sites to reduce, reuse and recycle waste in the factories.

Sourcing of low-carbon materials and circularity/ecodesign initiatives are other integral parts of our transition. In 2024, we launched the industry’s first dump box for mining trucks manufactured using SSAB Zero™ steel, which is steel made using recycled steel (scrap) and fossil-free energy. We create circular business models to keep valuable materials in circulation, for instance by running buyback/recycling programs for our used tools and carbide drill bits. Our Bergla^® tungsten carbide powder is made entirely of recycled material. We run reconditioning programs for our solid round tools and refurbishment programs to prolong the life of our mining and rock processing equipment.

Increased waste circularity

Our target* is to increase our waste circularity to 90 percent by 2030. In 2024, we achieved 74 percent waste circularity. Circular waste is defined as reuse and recycling. In circularity rate reporting, we exclude tailings, digestion sludge, foundry sand and slag because we assess that it is not feasible in the foreseeable future to take further actions to avoid sending these fractions to landfill. Total waste increased by 12 percent to 371 ktons, primarily driven by an increased amount of tailings, digestion sludge and slag.

The table and graph show the waste circularity in per cent for 2021–2024.

*This target was revised in 2021 to better reflect our efforts towards circularity and we will report on waste circularity rather than total waste from this point.

We have excluded tailings from our mine operations, since our ability to impact these volumes is limited. The target is adjusted for structural changes.

Environmental footprint

In our annual report, you can read about our environmental footprint and progress against the targets.

Go to the note for our environmental footprint in the Annual Report