India's Mill Scale Problem: 3.2 Million Tonnes a Year and Growing

A Waste Stream Nobody is Talking About

India's steel industry produces approximately 3.2-3.3 million tonnes of mill scale every year. Most of this mill scale is sold at marginal prices to secondary steelmakers or sent to tailing ponds. Neither outcome is optimal.

What is Mill Scale?

Mill scale is the flaky surface oxide layer that forms on steel when it is hot-rolled. It consists primarily of iron oxides (FeO, Fe2O3, Fe3O4) with some metallic iron content. Typically 65-70% Fe total with 50-60% metallic iron.

The SACA Solution

ACL's SACA (Steel Additives for Circular Application) platform is built around a patent-protected formulation that enables high-rate mill scale iron recovery in induction furnace operations. With SACA, mill scale is transformed from a waste disposal problem into a valuable iron input.

Scale of Opportunity

At 3.2 MT of annual mill scale production, even a 50% recovery rate through the SACA pathway represents 1.6 MT of iron value recovered annually - displacing equivalent primary iron production and the associated CO2 emissions.