Hyundai Steel, Samsung develop tech to recycle chip waste for steelmaking

Hyundai Steel Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. said on Monday they have developed technology that can recycle the chipmaker’s wastewater sludge as supplementary material in steelmaking.

The technology will allow the companies to utilize calcium fluoride (CaF2) in semiconductor wastewater sludge that is similar to fluorite, a material used in steelmaking to lower melting temperatures and remove impurities in molten iron.

With the new technology, Hyundai Steel will be able to cut costs while Samsung can reduce the amount of semiconductor waste, contributing to the environmental production, according to the companies.

Fluorite is a mineral that Korean steelmakers rely entirely on imports.

Hyundai Steel, the country’s No. 2 steelmaker, imports about 20,000 tons of fluorite a year, and with the new recycling technology, the company expects to cut its imports by half from the end of October at the earliest.

Samsung has so far just thrown away wastewater sludge or sent it to cement factories for reuse.

Last year, Hyundai Steel, Samsung and a local metal recycling firm Pos Ceramics Co. signed a partnership to jointly develop recycling technology for wastewater sludge.

In April of this year, Hyundai Steel succeeded in producing steel using 30 tons of fluorite alternatives.

The new technology was also approved in August by Korean authorities, including the National Institute of Environmental Research, the companies said.

“We will continue to strengthen our ESG (environmental, social and governance) standard by further developing technology that can achieve 100% recycling of waste materials,” said a Samsung executive.

Write to Kyung-Min Kang at Kkm1026@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.