ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY HEADLINESEnvironment and Sustainability
Volkswagen Honors TKS for Environmental Awareness
Jul. 1, 2006
July 2006 — Volkswagen AG has honored ThyssenKrupp Steel with the Volkswagen Group Award for environment awareness.
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In Duisburg, ThyssenKrupp Steel operates the world’s second-largest integrated steel mill, producing around 11.5 million tonnes of crude steel annually to the highest environmental standards.
Water and air pollution control and an almost 100% recycling system are integral to the company’s operating processes.
The Duisburg mill is one of the most efficient plants in the world in terms of energy use, with process gases produced during the manufacture of steel reused as energy for other production steps.
The mill is almost self-sufficient in terms of power supply, and part of the energy is even fed into the public district heating network.
In addition, almost all the water used by ThyssenKrupp Steel is recycled, with only 4% of the required annual water volume supplied as fresh water.
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The Volkswagen award recognizes suppliers who contribute innovative solutions to making cars more environmentally friendly. ThyssenKrupp Steel also recently became one of Volkswagen’s Sustainability Partners, a group of suppliers who commit explicitly to the goals of sustainable development.
In the award ceremony, Volkswagen noted, “ThyssenKrupp Steel uses environmentally sound technologies in the cost-effective production and processing of innovative steel products which, with their high strength combined with high formability allow the production of thin-walled, weight-optimized automotive parts. In addition to efficient energy use at the Duisburg plant, this results in reduced fuel consumption for Volkswagen customers.”
ThyssenKrupp Steel plays a leading role in the development of innovative steel grades which offer high strength and formability at low thicknesses. The company is also continuously developing processing technologies for steel, such as the development of tailored products, utilizing steels of different thicknesses, strengths and surface properties, their design precisely matched to the loads which will occur in the finished part. This concept makes a decisive contribution to saving weight without having to compromise on safety, and allows OEMs to manufacture more cost-effectively.
As a system partner to the auto industry, ThyssenKrupp Steel supports its customers in implementing innovative steel materials and material-oriented production concepts in the manufacture of new vehicles. Lightweight automotive construction plays an important role in this, as do more efficient production routes with shorter process chains and optimized material usage.
Headquartered in Duisburg, ThyssenKrupp Steel AG is the holding company and largest single business in the Steel segment of the ThyssenKrupp Group. The segment produces around 14 million tonnes of crude steel. Including subsidiaries in the processing, finishing and steel service sectors, it employs more than 30,000 people. Companies which belong to the Steel segment include Rasselstein GmbH and the Duisburg-based ThyssenKrupp Tailored Blanks GmbH.