Steel Dust Recycling - Plant

Steel Dust Recycling, is America’s newest facility dedicated to recovering zinc and lead from the industrial waste stream. This plant recycles Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) steel dust utilizing the Waelz Kiln technology.EAF dust, generated by steel mills contains zinc. SDR's brand-new facility specializes in the reclamation of zinc and other metals from this dust. SDR’s main product is Waelz Oxide also known as Crude Zinc Oxide (CZO). This product is transformed into zinc oxide, zinc sulfate or zinc metal by zinc smelters. Our plant also produces Waelz Iron Product (WIP), an Iron Concentrate.

The SDR recycling facility – located in Northwest Alabama – can currently process more than 240,000 tons of EAF dust annually.Effective October 1, 2009, SDR became a part of the Promax Group, a widely diversified industrial group owner of Zinc Nacional with over 30 years of experience in the recycling of EAF steel dust.Zinc Nacional, founded in 1952, is a privately owned company dedicated to the production of zinc compounds and recycled paperboard. The main goal of this acquisition is to enable Zinc Nacional, with the inclusion of SDR, to more closely service the steel mill industry in the United States, while also contributing additional zinc units for the production of zinc oxide and zinc sulfate at its facility in Monterrey, Mexico.The SDR Alabama site - in the middle of a growing steel-making region – is strategically placed      to reduce transportation costs for nearby EAF steel producers:

Services

• Processing - Steel Dust Recycling will accept and process steel plant flue dust from steel melt shops with EAF furnaces (EAF baghouse dust needs to contain zinc in a quantity acceptable for processing). The baghouse dust must be transported in covered hopper bottom rail cars or in Pressure Differential rail cars or trucks.

• Transportation - Steel Dust Recycling can help arrange and manage transportation of waste products from steel mills to the recycling facility near Millport, Alabama. The SDR plant site has rail access to four national carriers, and is near Interstates 20, 55, 59, 65, 78 and 82.SDR will also help manage compliance for the transport of hazardous materials as part of a take-away contract.

• Compliance and Reporting - Steel Dust Recycling can also help manage safety, health and environmental compliance, file required reports and maintain historical files for direct access by customers in order to monitor compliance.

Technologies

Despite research into multiple alternative technologies, the traditional Waelz Kiln is the most economically viable processing method for deriving valuable zinc oxides from steel mill waste. 

Protecting the Environment

Currently, US-based mini-mills using the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) method to melt scrap steel generate more than a million tons of steel mill dust annually. Classified as a hazardous substance, most of this steel dust can be recycled to obtain zinc oxides used as a raw material for the world's zinc smelters.