Photo: IVL Svenska Miljöinstitutet
After nine months of work, Swedish Mining Innovation’s strategic project TraceMet has the goal in sight: a system that can provide information about the environmental performance of metals.
– Now ideas are beginning to emerge about how this should be organized to work in the market. It could be the next project, says project manager Erik Lindblom, IVL Swedish Environmental Institute.
The main track for TraceMet is to show annual average values ??for climate footprint and share of recycled material in the metal produced, but further ahead there are greater opportunities.
– We know that there is a desire to be able to calculate the environmental performance of the metal in, for example, an individual bus. And we could do that in the future, says Erik Lindblom.
It places new demands on how data is collected during the production and transport processes through the value chain from mine to finished vehicle. But the one year project TraceMet can only work with available data, often annual averages.
Evidence of climate-smart production
Given the ambitions to produce fossil-free steel – which LKAB, SSAB and Vattenfall are working on in the Hybrit project – it will be extra interesting to be able to point out the environmental impact that metals have.
– Swedish companies are forced to produce more climate-smart than many other countries. Through TraceMet’s tracking and certification system, they should be able to prove that this is the case, says Erik Lindblom.
Business models are an issue for the future
However, the question of the commercial aspects of the certification system and how it could work in the market is something that lies outside TraceMet’s mission.
– It could be a question for a possible continuation project, something that our project owner Svemin is currently considering.
The interview is also published on Tracemet website at IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute.
