FOCUS ON MATERIALS
TRANSFORMATION, INNOVATION AND PROGRESS
Thanks to groundbreaking production approaches, stainless steel can now be created with a fraction of the carbon cost. Dr. Oliver Greven outlines how low-emission stainless steel is unlocking a more sustainable future.
“ The embedded carbon of a material is now a commercial and competitive concern, rather than a future consideration to be dealt with later down the line.”
The story of stainless steel has always been one of transformation, innovation and progress. Today, that story has entered its next chapter: delivering the same trusted performance while dramatically reducing environmental impact.
From infrastructure and mobility to food processing and architecture, stainless steel is essential to modern life. Its durability, strength and recyclability make it one of the most sustainable materials available. Thanks to groundbreaking production approaches, it can now be created with a fraction of the carbon cost.
This is a fundamental shift in an industry which otherwise carries a heavy emissions burden. The global industry average currently sits at around 7kg of CO₂ equivalent per kilogramme of steel produced. Multiplied across millions of tonnes of annual output, the impact from moving to low-emissions methods is immense.
Smart production, real impact
Low-emission stainless steel is a major step forward for the entire industry, and this is mostly due to its simplicity. There is no redesign, nor compromise: customers receive the same high-performance material, but with a significantly lower carbon footprint.
As the world’ s first near-zero carbon stainless steel, Outokumpu’ s Circle Green ®
By
Dr. Oliver Greven,
VP of Sustainable Solutions and Technical Customer Service, Outokumpu.
About the author
Dr. Oliver Greven is VP of Sustainable Solutions and Technical Customer Service at Outokumpu, a global specialist in sustainable stainless steel. With a Dr. Eng. in Materials Science and more than 20 years working in operational and commercial roles in the stainless-steel industry, he steers his team in finding the best materials for customers across sectors and applications.
62 | ismr. net | ISMR October 2026