Recycling Solutions sold 1.86 million tons of slag in 2024

Exports from Ukraine to the EU increased by 135% y/y

In 2024, Recycling Solutions, a Ukrainian by-product and waste management company, increased its sales of ash and slag materials and metallurgical slag by 34% compared to 2023, to 1.86 million tons. The company’s press service told GMK Center.

The main growth driver was sales of granulated slag, which increased by 39% y/y.

The company also doubled its exports. Supplies of granulated slag from Ukraine to the EU increased by 135% y/y, reaching 889.5 thousand tons. The share of Recycling Solutions in this volume was over 80% – 718 thousand tons. Thus, Ukraine accounted for about 8% of the total imports of granulated slag to the EU.

“Despite the stabilization of the market in 2023, we did not see any domestic growth in 2024. Therefore, we focused on European consumers of cement and concrete, for whom green solutions are important,” said Vadym Khoroshko, Director of Construction Additives at Recycling Solutions.

The main importing countries were Poland, Slovakia and Romania. Poland also remains the main consumer of Ukrainian dry ash. Exports of microspheres increased by 16% y/y, with the Netherlands, Italy and Turkey remaining the main destinations.

In the domestic market, demand was supported by government initiatives and private developers. Sales of dump slag for road construction increased by 17% y/y – to 426 thousand tons. Sales of other ash and slag materials increased by 24% y/y – to 349 thousand tons.

In 2024, Recycling Solutions invested UAH 5 million in business development and completed the relocation of the microsphere processing plant from Donetsk region to Burshtyn.

By increasing exports and focusing on recycled materials with a low carbon footprint, the company has strengthened its contribution to the sustainable transformation of construction in the context of the Green Deal and the implementation of the CBAM mechanism in the EU.

In 2023, Ukraine increased its exports of granulated slag to the European Union by 53% compared to 2022, up to 367 thousand tons. Thus, the country became the fourth-largest supplier of this construction material to the EU market. Of the total exports of Ukrainian granulated slag to the EU in 2023, 324.5 thousand tons (+47.5% y/y) were supplied by Recycling Solutions.