Change in the Tinplate Industry: Cans Are Getting Lighter

You have been CEO of thyssenkrupp Rasselstein GmbH since July. What is your background?

Previously I had been Head of Overseas Sales at thyssenkrupp Rasselstein for several years. Before moving to Andernach, I held various positions in purchasing and sales at thyssenkrupp Steel Europe AG in Duisburg. I was responsible for the procurement of bulk raw materials (iron ore and reducing agents, i.e. all the raw materials needed for the blast furnace process) and overseas logistics and was in charge of sales management for the entire Steel business segment. To me, it was always important to work in a company that manufactures products that I can find in my everyday life – first at Steel, whose products can be found in cars and households. Every time I go to the supermarket, I can now see cans made of tinplate from thyssenkrupp Rasselstein.

Why are there still fewer women in management positions in some areas of industry?

When I started in Raw Materials Purchasing in 2007, I was actually one of the only women at Raw Materials Purchasing level. Raw materials purchasing was a male-dominated world back then. Basically, the steel industry is still characterized by a high proportion of men, but this is mainly due to the position profiles. I'm thinking of jobs at the blast furnace, in the steelworks or here in tinplate production. However, this is all changing more and more. In my opinion, it's diversity that makes the difference. A balance of women and men is very valuable in working life.
I have always been supported and promoted, but this had less to do with the fact that I am a woman and more to do with my performance. It also depends on the individual situation of the woman as to whether she wants to take on a leadership position. The same applies to men. My personal guiding principle is to challenge and encourage. I make no distinction between male and female colleagues in this.

Tinplate packaging is very easy to recycle. Nevertheless, steel is a major energy guzzler. How does thyssenkrupp solve this dilemma?

In Germany, the recycling rate for tinplate has been stable at around 90 percent for almost 20 years. Recycling alone saves up to 70 percent energy in tinplate production compared to primary production. This is enormous and shows how important it is to dispose of cans correctly. This is the only way to ensure that the steel packaging is returned to the material cycle.

thyssenkrupp Rasselstein GmbH itself contributes to effectively closing the material cycle. Through our own recycling systems - DWR - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Weißblechrecycling mbH for the private sector and Kreislaufsystem Blechverpackungen Stahl GmbH for the commercial/industrial sector - we secure the material cycle of packaging steel in Germany.

And yes, steel production is fundamentally energy intensive. That is why steel is an essential building block for a sustainable energy transition. The core of our transformation is the switch from blast furnaces and coal to direct reduction (DR) plants and green hydrogen. In short: tkH2Steel. The first hydrogen-based direct reduction plant will go into operation at the Duisburg site in 2027. The aim is to completely decarbonize the primary steel route by 2045 at the latest. thyssenkrupp Rasselstein already offers a product with reduced CO2 intensity in the form of bluemint recycled. The material properties of the tinplate do not differ from the existing grades. However, the product is characterized by a 62 percent reduction in CO2 emissions during production. The use of tinplate made from bluemint steel can therefore significantly reduce CO2 emissions during the production of a can.

What trends can currently be observed in the tinplate packaging segment?

We are seeing a trend towards CO2-reduced packaging. More and more companies are thinking about how they can position themselves more sustainably. And the use of CO2-reduced packaging is an important component of their sustainability strategies. However, we can also see that the tear-off lid on food cans is becoming increasingly widespread. Consumers appreciate the ease of opening cans without having to use a can opener. The trend worldwide is therefore clearly moving towards cans with tear-off lids.

Especially in the United States, but also increasingly in Europe, the two-piece DWI food can is in high demand. According to the Can Manufacturers Institute's 2019-2020 annual report, around 18 billion two-piece food cans were produced in the USA during this period. We offer suitable packaging steel grades for all of these trends in our portfolio.

Material reduction is a trend: how light will steel become?

The further development of packaging steel is an ongoing process. Tinplate is already up to 0.1 millimeters thin and correspondingly light. A three-piece tinplate food can, for example, is now 29% thinner and 46% lighter than 30 years ago. This saves material and ultimately valuable resources. Almost all of our innovations are aimed at reducing thickness while maintaining the same product properties.

With our packaging steel grade rasselstein D&I Solid, for example, we have launched the next generation of DWI material for the production of two-part food cans. Thanks to an innovative manufacturing process in tinplate production, an increase in axial stability of 20 percent can be achieved by using this material in DWI food cans. This opens up enormous potential for thickness reductions, which can result in material savings of up to ten percent. The can then becomes correspondingly lighter.

About the person:
Clarissa Odewald was born in Wilhelmshaven and grew up in Neuss. After graduating from high school, she trained as an industrial clerk and then studied business administration at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, graduating with a degree in business administration. The 45-year-old lives with her husband in Düsseldorf and Andernach.