Sweden - Specialist steel producer, SSAB of Stockholm says it is convinced good environmental stewardship also drives good business and is firmly committed to reducing its own carbon footprint and that of its customers and is promoting a programme called EcoUpgraded. Through this EcoUpgraded programme, customers can upgrade to high-strength steel reducing the weight of their equipment, improve fuel economy and extend product lifetime – all factors, which combine to have a major impact on reducing a vehicles’ carbon footprint. SSAB plans to demonstrate EcoUpgraded at Bauma 2019 in April.

SSAB says upgrading from standard steel to high-strength steel, a customer can not only cut the weight of the end product while maintaining the same strength, it can increase durability and productivity. As high-strength steel is stronger than conventional mild steel, less steel is needed to manufacture the product, this also reduces CO₂ emissions. The amount of the savings varies depending on the design and whether or not it is weight-critical. Furthermore, SSAB looks at each specific application and compares the potential CO₂ savings in the use phase to the CO₂ emitted during production. This process identifies products that would benefit the most from an upgrade to high-strength Strenx performance steel and/or Hardox wear plate. Once the CO₂ payback time is reached, the vehicle is calculated to continue to deliver CO₂ savings far in excess of the original CO₂ debt.