When Stefano Proietti was a young engineering student in Italy, he wanted to work on projects that reduce the environmental impact of companies’ manufacturing processes. Today, he is taking on a tough challenge in the steel industry in Umbria.
Proietti works for Tapojärvi, a Finnish company that specialises in processing the discarded materials from steelmaking. In 2022, the company received an €18 million loan from the European Investment Bank to find more ways to process slag at a stainless-steel manufacturing plant in Umbria. Slag is a byproduct formed from the impurities that are removed from molten steel. After being cooled, the slag, which is a dense rock material, can be processed and used in many materials, such as asphalt for roads.
Tapojärvi Italia
A ‘huge challenge’ for the community
The EIB loan was a decisive moment for Proietti, the managing director of Tapojärvi Italy. He quickly recognised the project’s potential. “Having a steel factory in the heart of the city is a huge challenge for the community,” he says. “It creates noise, requires landfills and uses enormous amounts of water.”
Tapojärvi is recycling and reusing the slag at a steelmaking plant in Terni, about 100 kilometres north of Rome in Umbria. The project has two main aims – recover the metal from slag and recycle it in the steel plant and treat the rest of the slag to be used in other products. Before, the plant only recovered metal from slag, and the remaining product was sent to landfills.
Tapojärvi’s process recovers more metal from slag than traditional methods. The new recycling process also reduces noise, dust, transportation costs and carbon emissions, because trucks no longer need to make regular trips to dump slag in landfills. Helping the environment is significant for the community around the steel plant. The first residential area is only 60 metres away from the plant.
Successful first test
The company is starting to see the first fruits of this investment. The new slag process is ready, and the company is getting the final permits. The slag produced will be used as filler in concrete and asphalt for road construction. In 2023, Italy successfully tested fillers supplied by Tapojärvi on a section of the 209 regional road in Umbria. Using these fillers in concrete and asphalt reduces the need for raw materials.
The slag processing has also created jobs for the community and increased skills. To get this project off the ground, workers were trained in the new technology and processes. “Our Italian workforce had to learn the new technological processes, which meant they also needed to brush up on their English in order to cooperate with our Finnish colleagues,” Proietti says. “It was not only a business cooperation, but a cultural exchange between Italy and Finland.”
Tapojärvi Italia
Supporting steel across Europe
Europe’s steel industry supports nearly 2.6 million jobs. The European Union is working hard to support steel companies but also to cut their emissions. The steel industry is responsible for around 5% of carbon dioxide emissions in the European Union and 7% globally.
“The EIB’s investments in the steel sector align with EU goals for climate action,” says Alessandro Sauro Montevecchi, a loan officer involved in the Tapojärvi project in Italy. “Projects financed by the EIB in the steel sector also have a meaningful impact on communities. They help preserve jobs by modernising industrial plants, support regional development through innovation hubs, and promote cleaner air and healthier environments by reducing emissions.”
Recent EIB-supported projects in the steel sector include a €300 million loan to Voestalpine in June 2024 for low-emission steelmaking and advanced steel products in Austria. In December 2023, the Bank helped finance H2 Green Steel’s hydrogen-powered plant in Sweden, aiming to cut emissions up to 95%. Additionally, Italian steel plant and equipment maker Danieli received support in December 2022 for innovation and circular economy projects in Italy.
TAPOJARVI ITALY
The project covers the promoter's investment in an innovative slag processing and valorisation plant as well as its initial testing and ramp-up phases with the aim to transform the slag into valuable by-products and to avoid landfilling. The slag originates from an existing stainless steel manufacturing plant. The project will be carried out in Italy in the period 2019-22.
