First Swedish plant with large-scale water treatment using by-products from the steel industry

Slag from steel industry production is now replacing macadam as a material in the treatment of industrial storm- and wastewater. The first large-scale use for treating stormwater will be in an industrial plant inaugurated 13 September in Västerås, Sweden.

Björn Haase, Manager Non Metal Products in Sweden, Höganäs and Catharina Lindgren, CEO, Carbomax. Photo: Adam af Ekenstam

Polluted stormwater is a major environmental problem and can affect natural ecosystems and pollute water sources for our water treatment plants. Macadam has mainly been used for treating surface water to date. A material involving blasting rock, which is then transported and crushed.

Petrit^® E is now available – a new circular alternative made from slag, a by-product from iron and steel industry production. Sweden’s first facility was inaugurated yesterday with large-scale use of the product for surface water treatment.

It involves Carbomax’s 10,000 square meter storage facility for coal products and alloys, where Petrit E is placed as delay magazines in ditches for effective drainage and purification of storm water. Particles from carbon dust and other substances are absorbed by the new material.

From residual product to environmental benefit

“We’re actually turning a by-product into a material with environmental values and are currently starting to scale up the application for industrial water treatment,” says Björn Haase, responsible for by-products products at Höganäs, the supplier.

The idea of purifying water with slag was born more than ten years ago and was also presented at the UN’s ocean conference in New York in 2017. It has been further developed via field trials in the Vinnova-funded research project Minrent. The idea now becomes a reality on a large scale at Carbomax in Västerås.

"We hope this partnership can inspire more circular innovation in the iron and steel industry. It shows that it is possible to help a customer turn a by-product into a saleable product, and to make our industry more sustainable, while reducing impact on the environment and natural resources," says Catharina Lindgren, CEO of Carbomax.

Press photos for free publication can be downloaded in our image gallery, please specify: Photo: Adam af Ekenstam