Over the course of 2020, the GDES Logistics Business Unit has consolidated a new service for our client Acerinox at its Palmones steel plant in Cadiz (Spain).

This new service has been designed in line with our commitment to sustainability and it is based on the concept of the circular economy, an approach that aims to keep products, materials and resources in use for as long as possible and to minimise waste. The guiding principle is the creation of a new circular, non-linear economy based on “closing the lifecycle loop” of products; in this case, by reusing waste generated by the metal recovery service we provide for Acerinox in Cadiz.

Specifically, since the beginning of the year, GDES has been providing metal separation and recovery services for refractory brick waste produced after the melting of scrap metal in the ladle furnaces of the Palmones steel plant. Once the metal was recovered, the aggregates and bricks used to be classified as waste. As a value proposition, in addition to improving the recovery process, GDES has implemented the circular economy as a concept, using the aggregates and bricks as raw materials for other industries, such as for the manufacture of dry precast concrete or road construction, thus reducing the total amount of waste generated.

This service is being provided on a temporary basis within the steel plant while an external facility is put into operation with GDES as the authorised manager. The key to this new logistics service is the added value it provides both to the client and to society, since it is a solution that is environmentally friendly, efficient, and cost-effective, with a long-term outlook.