New Partnership - Aperam

Partnering with RWTH Innovation, Aperam Develops Sustainable Solutions for the Mobility and Renewable Energy Sectors

With the goal of further strengthening its innovation strategy and sustainability roadmap, Aperam has joined the RWTH Innovation ecosystem.

A global player in stainless, electrical and specialty steel, Aperam is also a global leader in environmental sustainability – having committed to contributing to carbon neutrality by 2050. Most recently, the company launched its Aperam infinite™ range of near-zero carbon* footprint stainless steels. Made using advanced recycling methods, renewable energy, sustainably sourced ores and charcoal biomass, Aperam infinite™ can reduce CO2e emissions (scope 1+2) by as much as 85%* compared to the industry standard. 
(*Near-zero carbon footprint products with an up to 50% reduction in emissions compared with Aperam’s standard products (scope 1+2+3 upstream), and a reduction of up to 85% reduction in CO2e emissions compared to industry average. Calculation based on 6tCO2e/t eq. carbon in imported steels.)

Aperam says it sees its partnership with RWTH Aachen University as a means of building on this momentum and taking its sustainability-focused innovation to the next level, particularly in the areas of energy and mobility. “RWTH has an excellent track record of translating science into real-world applications that can benefit society, which is exactly what Aperam is all about,” says Dr. Reiner Steins, the company’s Chief Innovation Officer.

Dedicated to facilitating the transfer of the technologies of tomorrow, RWTH Innovation provides its partners with comprehensive R&D support, including access to RWTH Aachen University’s full innovation potential. “As an interface, we strengthen the mutual link between business and science,” explains Dr. Jörg von Appen, Managing Director of RWTH Innovation GmbH. “This provides scientists with important feedback from the manufacturer and user perspective, while companies can contribute to shaping the direction of research. This approach will help make research results more accessible to the market and thus create a lasting impact on industry and society.”

As part of the partnership, RWTH will support Aperam’s research and development projects in the fields of hydrogen economy, electrical power generation, electrical drives, power electronics and electromobility. In all the mentioned domains, RWTH offers development opportunities along a wide span of technology readiness levels (TRL’s) allowing the translation of science to prototypes to industrial application - a technological one-stop-shop. The company also looks to leverage the RWTH network to find new partners for turning the company’s sustainable ideas into sustainable solutions for the energy and mobility sectors. “We know that stainless steels, electrical steels and specialty alloys play a significant role in the energy transition and mobility transformation – a role that will only grow in the future,” says Dr. Steins.

But will existing materials be able to meet future demands, or will today’s materials need to be adapted to tomorrow’s needs? Or maybe it’s not even about existing materials but about innovating new materials to enable even more efficient energy production and mobility? “These are the questions we look forward to addressing via our partnership with RWTH, the answers to which will allow us to develop products and solutions for a more sustainable world,” concludes Dr. Steins.

About Aperam
Aperam is a global player in stainless, electrical and specialty steel, with customers in over 40 countries.  Since 1st January 2022, the business is organized in four primary reportable segments: Stainless & Electrical Steel, Services & Solutions, Alloys & Specialties and Recycling & Renewables.

Aperam has a flat Stainless and Electrical steel capacity of 2.5 million tonnes in Brazil and Europe and is a leader in high value specialty products. In addition to its industrial network, spread over six production facilities in Brazil, Belgium and France, Aperam has a highly integrated distribution, processing and services network and a unique capability to produce low carbon footprint stainless and special steels from biomass, stainless steel scrap and high performance alloys scrap. With Aperam Bioenergia and its unique capability to produce charcoal made from its own FSC®-certified forestry and with Aperam Recycling, a global leader in collecting, trading, processing and recycling of stainless steel scrap and high performance alloys, Aperam’s places sustainability at the heart of its business, helping customers worldwide to excel in the circular economy. Aperam is the first player in its market to be ResponsibleSteel™ certified in Europe and the Americas. Its sustainability efforts have received wide recognition.

In 2023, Aperam had sales of EUR 6,592 million and shipments of 2.20 million tonnes. 
For further information, please refer to the website: www.aperam.com

About RWTH Aachen University and RWTH Innovation
RWTH Aachen University is a German university of excellence and, with over 45,000 students, one of the leading technical universities in Germany. RWTH Innovation, a 100% subsidiary of RWTH Aachen University and Uniklinik RWTH Aachen, gives companies direct access to the university’s full research and innovation potential.