While Mathieu was creating the design for the torch, our challenge was to ensure the steel we were making for it was responsibly and sustainably produced and contributed to Paris 2024’s ambition to halve the carbon footprint of the Games compared with the average of London 2012 and Rio 2016.

Fortunately, we’d already made a start, having launched XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steel in 2021. This is steel made in an electric arc furnace which uses high levels of recycled scrap as its metallic input and 100 per cent renewable electricity as a power source.

For Paris 2024, we knew ‘high levels of recycled scrap’ wouldn’t be enough: our target was to create a torch with half the carbon footprint of the torch used at the London 2012 Games. Only using 100 per cent recycled scrap as the metallic input would suffice, so that’s exactly what we did.

The outcome is steel with a carbon footprint lower than traditional steelmaking techniques

'We have to change our habits. We have plans for a fantastic celebration while also demonstrating that it is feasible to reduce the carbon footprint by half because otherwise the future of the Games will be in danger, and we have to demonstrate it is possible to still deliver it. Thanks to its capacity for innovation, ArcelorMittal will also take up the challenge of making the Games both spectacular and more sustainable. Welcome to the adventure!'

Tony Estanguet,
President of Paris 2024

Our R&D team is currently undertaking the work required to accurately assess the carbon footprint, using the carbon footprint methodology set out by Paris 2024. Our initial estimates indicate the steel has a carbon footprint within a range of 650-800kg CO2 per tonne of steel, compared with a WorldSteel Association EU LCA average of approximately 2.24 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of cold rolled coil - the same type of steel from which the torches are produced.

The Steel and the Torch, Episode 2 - The manufacture

The project was executed entirely in France, across four of our steelmaking sites in Châteauneuf, Florange, Le Creusot and Woippy, and a partner site that stamped and shaped the steel. 

It involved transforming the scrap steel from end-of-life cars and washing machines, to an enormous molten steel slab, to a 0.7-millimetre-thick steel sheet, to Mathieu Lehanneur’s glorious design that will be carried in the hands of 10,000 torchbearers as the Paris 2024 Olympic flame travels across 400 towns and cities in France before arriving at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony being held on the River Seine on 26 July 2024. Watch our film above to learn how we did it.