Steel is the most recycled material in the world, though steel mills may still conjure images of billowing smokestacks for many people.
Now the plumes that hang over the Region’s mills on Lake Michigan are steam, not smoke. And the industry is generally working at becoming more environmentally responsible.
The World Steel Association, which met in downtown Chicago Tuesday to discuss matters such as how to innovate and attract talent, released its Sustainable Steel Policy and Indicators 2015 Report, which shows the industry has made progress toward being more environmentally friendly but still falls short of its goals.
The average crude ton of steel still requires 20.4 gigajoules of energy intensity, releasing 1.9 tons of CO2.
“As an industry, we recognize the critical need to measure progress against sustainability targets,” World Steel Association Director General Edwin Basson said.
“I am proud to report that participation levels amongst worldsteel members and non-member companies continue to grow, and we strongly encourage reporting across the industry to help us to improve, and to demonstrate the transparency that our stakeholders rightly expect.”
Only 42 companies originally participated in the study when it started in 2004 as a way of tracking eight key sustainability indicators. Now 147 companies across the world volunteer information, and they represent 55 percent of the world’s crude steel production.
“We have outlined seven principles in our Sustainable Development Policy that we are committed to and that will help us align our goals with the new UN Sustainable Development Goals,” Basson said. “As an industry we are working according to these principles to maximize the results we can achieve together today and in the future.”
The steel industry turns 97.6 percent of the materials it receives on site into raw steel or related projects, the report found. More than 90 percent of steelworkers and contractors have environmental management system programs at their workplaces.
Workers get an average of 6.5 percent days of training per year, and are rarely injured -- only 1.4 times per million hours worked last year, according to the World Steel Association. Steelmakers reinvested 7.5 percent of their revenue in new processes and procedures.
“Data for sustainability indicators has been collected since 2004, and the industry has improved over that period in many areas,” Basson said.
“However, there are a number of challenges that we continue to face and in some areas our performance still falls short of our ambitions. We are working to address these as a priority and will not compromise on our commitments.”