Steel is the backbone of modern infrastructure. Once made, steel can theoretically be recycled and reused for an infinite number of times. However, due to dissipative losses attributed to corrosion or wear, significant amounts of material are lost during application, preventing a closed-loop recycling for a circular economy. To address this issue, the suitability of novel structural steels with approximately 0.3 mass-% carbon and > 2 mass-% manganese for wear-intensive applications in agricultural engineering, for instance chisels for tillage, was compared with those of standard reference steels with a comparable carbon concentration. For this purpose, laboratory melts (80 kg) were produced and consecutively forged into ingots. The raised manganese concentration and addition of minor alloying elements allowed to adjust different bainitic microstructures during cooling from the austenite range. The tribological behavior of the steels was evaluated by two different tribology tests, namely ball-on-disk tribometry and abrasion tests using a self-made dry sand/rubber wheel apparatus according to the ASTM G65 standard. The evaluation of wear rate under ball-on-disk sliding wear conditions was based on the mass loss and the examination of wear track by 3D optical microscopy and scanning-electron microscopy (SEM). The performance of steels under dry sand/rubber wheel testing conditions, on the other hand, was assessed by quantification of the mass loss. To determine the work hardening of the subsurface layer during the latter test and aid the interpretation of results, microhardness measurements were performed on sections perpendicular to the exposed surface. Differences in the wear performance were in good correlation with the type and distribution of microstructural constituents. Topology optimization by mechanical simulation tools is another meaningful strategy to obtain lightweight structural steel components with enhanced fatigue strength and lightweight design. In many cases, this can also lead to economic advantages and increased efficiency for the user. Based on real measurement data collected during field tests with components made from standard reference steels and the material properties of the newly-developed alloys, the lightweight potential of the structural component was identified and a strength and weight-optimized design was developed. The practical suitability of the new structural steels is to be demonstrated by extensive field tests with optimized components.