An automative safety supplier is set to create the world’s first fossil-free steel for automative safety products.

Autoliv Inc. has teamed up with the international steel company SSAB to create fossil-free steel which can be used in the manufacturing of car safety products such as seatbelts, airbags, and pyrotechnical safety switches.

The new, clean method will use hydrogen instead of traditional ore-based steelmaking which requires coking coal.

Autoliv claims that sustainability is a core component of their business plan and their collaboration with SSAB brings them closer to their goal: producing the world’s first fossil-free steelmaking technology – with no carbon footprint.

“As the first automotive safety supplier, we are committed to becoming carbon neutral in our own operations by 2030 and furthermore aim for net-zero emissions across our supply chain by 2040,” said Mikael Bratt, President and CEO of Autoliv.

“This means reducing our carbon emissions through use of renewable electricity in our own and supplier operations, improving energy and materials efficiency and adopting low carbon logistics and low carbon materials.

“We are now turning our commitment into action and are well-positioned to continue supporting our customers and partners to reach their sustainability goals.”

Autoliv’s partners SSAB have said that they intend to begin distributing fossil-free steel at a rate that can support the current market by 2026.

They have had previous success partnering with the mining company LKAB and energy company Vattenfall to create HYBRIT: a collaborative project that produces steel from hydrogen reduced iron.