Supporting Our Customers in Sustainability
The climate risk assessment we completed in 2023 identified climate-related opportunities for our business as customers in construction and infrastructure industries seek to use more sustainable products in response to emerging regulations, standards and the needs of their customers. As a global leader in recycled steel, including our line of net-zero products such as RebarZero® and MerchantZero®, we are well positioned to help our customers meet their goals for reducing GHG emissions and climate risks. We partner with our customers to provide guidance and offer solutions that address their sustainability needs. In addition to recycled steel products, our Tensar Division’s geogrid products provide sustainable solutions that reduce material and transportation needs and shorten construction schedules for our customers, leading to lower costs and fewer trucks to deliver materials and resulting in lower emissions.
In 2024, we implemented the Primary-to-Primary initiative, which is focused on having a single relationship between a customer and one mill to improve customer service and reduce costs, including freight. We seek to pair customers with mills that are closest geographically, which also reduces the environmental impact from factors such as transport-related GHG emissions.
To help our customers make informed decisions, we publish Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) in the United States and EU that disclose the environmental performance of our steel and geogrid products and their potential impacts on the environment. In 2024, we developed new EPDs for two of our performance reinforcing steel products – ChromX® and GalvaBar®. We currently publish EPDs on most of our products and update the EPDs on a five-year cycle, in accordance with applicable standards including ISO 21930, ISO 14025, ISO 14040, ISO 14044 and EN 15804+A2:2019. Our EPDs show that the average embodied GHG emissions of our steel products is lower than the U.S. steel manufacturing average, according to the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute. EPDs are verified by a third party and are frequently required for public and private projects and help contribute to certification of green building projects such as LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).
