The report highlights the steel industry’s performance throughout 2015 against 8 sustainability indicators.
The publication of the report reflects the steel industry’s efforts to continuously improve performance in sustainability in line with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Reporting is voluntary and in 2015 a total of 159 companies worldwide participated in the study, up from 42 in 2004. Crude steel produced by companies who reported on one or more indicators for the 2015 fiscal year was 899Mt, representing 55% of global crude steel production.
Dr Edwin Basson, Director General, Worldsteel, said, “We in steel recognise the importance of proving our commitment to sustainability to the wider world. The sustainability indicators do just that. As such, I am delighted to see that participation levels among steel companies continue to go up and that we are continuing to improve our environmental, social and economic performance.
Steel is the material on which a sustainable future is going to be built. By aligning our sustainable development goals with those of the United Nations we are making clear to the world that we understand the challenges we face and are serious about taking action.”
Commenting on the industry’s performance, Dr Basson said, “Although we commend the progress to date we are at no risk of becoming complacent. We will continue to champion the sustainable development of our industry and encourage wider participation among our member companies.”
The 8 indicators are:
Environmental sustainability
- Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: An average of 1.9 tonnes of CO2 are emitted for every tonne of steel produced.
- Energy intensity: 20.3 GJ per tonne of crude steel cast
- Material efficiency: 97.3% of materials used on-site to make crude steel are converted to products and by-products.
- Environmental Management System (EMS): An 11.5% increase in employees and contractors working in EMS-registered production facilities since 2005.
Social sustainability
- The lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) was 1.2 injuries per million hours worked.
- Employees (at both production and non-production facilities) received an average of 6.8 training days per year.
Economic sustainability
- Investment in new processes and products was 12.6% of revenue
- Economic value distributed (EVD) was 98.1% of industry revenue
