Clarissa Odewald has assumed leadership of thyssenkrupp Rasselstein GmbH at a pivotal time as the company sets a strategic course for the future. Drawing on her extensive experience in international sales and deep understanding of global market demands, she is now steering the focus toward sustainable solutions, efficiency improvements, and digital processes. In this interview, she discusses how Germany’s only tinplate manufacturer plans to leverage current developments to create new opportunities for growth and innovation.
Ms. Odewald, prior to becoming CEO, you served for a long time as Head of Overseas Sales at thyssenkrupp Rasselstein. What was your focus in this role, and what key insights and experiences are you bringing to your new position?
Clarissa Odewald: As Head of Sales Overseas at thyssenkrupp Rasselstein, it was essential for me to understand the intricacies of our markets, particularly in the USA, Latin America, Australia, and the United Arab Emirates. Through hands-on experience and various assignments at different locations, I developed a keen sense of our customers’ diverse needs and requirements. Despite the geographical differences, I noticed a clear commonality: all manufacturers need high-quality tinplate to enhance the efficiency of their products. This high-quality segment is precisely where we have positioned ourselves as a company and continue to evolve.
However, my experience in sales is only one part of my learning journey. The insights I gained from my previous roles at thyssenkrupp are invaluable for my new responsibilities as CEO. They help me better understand the company not just from a strategic perspective, but also through the lens of our employees. I intensified this approach during my first fifty days as CEO, using this period to connect with colleagues across the organization. Through open discussions, I learned how to maintain our positive working environment and identified areas for further improvement.
Consumers are increasingly factoring sustainability into their purchasing decisions, paying close attention to the packaging they choose. Where does tinplate have an advantage over other packaging materials, and how will packaging steel continue to compete in the future?
Odewald: One key argument in favour of tinplate is its high recyclability. Thanks to its inherent properties, packaging steel is particularly easy to separate from other materials, making sorting highly efficient. Tinplate can be reintroduced into the recycling process repeatedly without any significant loss of quality. This closed-loop cycle conserves a substantial amount of energy and primary resources, which sets packaging steel apart as a sustainable material. The numbers speak for themselves: the recycling rate for tinplate has been around 90% in Germany for the past twenty years and now stands at approximately Steel Packaging Steel Abréviation du département 80.5% at the European level. We are committed to maintaining these high standards in the future.
Simultaneously, we have made strides in transforming our production processes. With bluemint® Steel, we now produce packaging steel that has the same properties as conventionally produced tinplate but generates up to 69% less CO₂ during production. This allows us to offer our customers a product that significantly contributes to reducing carbon emissions
Sustainability remains a top priority at thyssenkrupp Rasselstein. How do you define sustainability, and how do you plan to implement this vision within the company?
Odewald: Sustainability, for us, is a holistic approach across various areas where we operate as a company. Our sustainability vision is based on four strategic goals that focus on twelve fields of action. Beyond the ecological aspect, this includes achieving sustainable profits through the efficient use of resources, delivering maximum performance and top quality for our customers. We also aim to build long-term, trusting, and fair relationships with our customers, employees, and suppliers while safeguarding the health of our workforce and livelihoods in the countries where we operate. Additionally, I want to emphasize our ecological corporate responsibility. We strive to protect people, nature, and the climate through carbon-neutral production and consistent implementation of circular economy practices. To optimize our products and processes, we leverage the potential of new technologies to enhance our economic, ecological, and social performance.
thyssenkrupp Rasselstein has significantly expanded digitalization internally and in customer services over the past few years. How do you intend to further advance this area?
Odewald: Let me illustrate our digitalization strategy with an example. On my second day as CEO, I had the honour of opening our internal hackathon. This unique event brings together our digital experts from all departments to develop innovative software solutions for specific challenges within a short timeframe. In one instance, the team created a program to help our sales team access critical information on the go, saving time and improving service. The hackathon is an excellent example of how we drive digitalization— as a collaborative project. Digitalization is not a top-down, hierarchical process; rather, colleagues from different departments work together with specialists to find the right solutions. Additionally, collaboration on digitalization extends to other areas. We are working intensively with our business partners on digital networking to facilitate smooth data exchange and reduce manual workload for us and our partners.
Ms. Odewald, you took over at thyssenkrupp Rasselstein, Germany’s only tinplate manufacturer, at a time filled with challenges. The company is navigating one of the largest industrial transformations, shifting from coal to hydrogen, while regulations in key areas are tightening. How are you tackling these challenges, and what is your strategy for the company?
Odewald: It’s true that our parent company, thyssenkrupp Steel, is undergoing perhaps the most significant transformation in its history—moving away from coal to green hydrogen as the primary energy source for steel production. A completely new plant with an integrated melter is under construction in Duisburg, where the first hydrogen-based direct reduction plant will launch in 2027. This will help us substantially reduce emissions. Meanwhile, at our Andernach facility, we are continuously working to avoid Scope 1 to 3 emissions. For example, we use freight trains running on renewable energy and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) to transport hot-rolled strip from the steelworks in Duisburg. This saves us 2,000 tons of CO₂ annually. Additionally, we have invested in a new sheet coating line that allows us to avoid approximately 1,100 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
What role does collaboration between politics and industry play in this context?
Odewald: In two projects funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, thyssenkrupp Rasselstein is working as an industrial partner to develop solutions for using hydrogen in our annealing furnaces. To meet future demand for hydrogen, we need to rapidly expand capacity and infrastructure. thyssenkrupp alone will require around 140,000 tons of hydrogen annually. For this to work seamlessly, the infrastructure must be in place. Legislative action is crucial here: although the enormous potential of hydrogen as an energy source has been recognized, the development of appropriate framework conditions is still lagging. The situation is different at the EU level. The EU’s decision to regulate the packaging sector, particularly through the new Packaging Ordinance (PPWR), is a positive step. From 2030, only recyclable packaging will be allowed on the EU market. This sends a strong signal for the European circular economy, and as a tinplate manufacturer, we wholeheartedly welcome this development.