Pittsburgh-based U. S. Steel Corp. is the first steel company to qualify to sell its products as ResponsibleSteel Certified Steel at its Big River facility in Osceola, Ark.
“This is an extraordinary accomplishment,” said U. S. Steel President and CEO David B. Burritt. “Being the first steel company in the world to achieve ResponsibleSteel Certified Steel demonstrates our strong resolve to build a more sustainable steel industry in the United States and across the world.”
ResponsibleSteel is the industry’s leading global multi-stakeholder standards body, enabling certification at the site level — and now for the first-time — steel certification. Meeting the standard for Certified Steel means that U. S. Steel’s Big River facility demonstrates its ongoing commitment to advance industry sustainability while delivering profitable solutions for stakeholders and benefits for the planet.
“ResponsibleSteel congratulates U. S. Steel on this significant accomplishment — the first-of-a-kind across the global industry,” said ResponsibleSteel CEO Annie Heaton. “This certification demonstrates the company’s strong ongoing commitment to transparency, credibility, and responsibility, as they make progress in their decarbonization plans.”
Heaton also said that the company’s certification sends a clear message to the market: progress towards responsible ‘green steel’ is being achieved and can be most credibly benchmarked.
“For those buyers looking to cut through the confusion of environmental claims, look no further,” she said. “We look forward to U. S. Steel’s ongoing progress and leadership in the market for credible sustainable steel products.”
The ResponsibleSteel International Production Standard incorporates environmental, social and governance (ESG) requirements across its 13 principles, which include more than 500 criteria for the responsible sourcing and production of steel.
“The rigorous requirements needed for ResponsibleSteel Certified Steel represent a new gold standard for responsible steel manufacturing on a global scale,” Burritt said Tuesday. “This certification gives customers and stakeholders confidence that Big River is on the path to near zero and demonstrates that we are using responsible practices across our supply chain.”
By offering Certified Steel, U. S. Steel is demonstrating leadership in enabling steel producers, and suppliers, to assess their sustainability progress through a comprehensive, credible global benchmark, the company said, noting that the standard is constructed to encourage decarbonization progress at the site, but also to drive responsible sourcing and a robust supply chain ESG analysis.
“ResponsibleSteel employs a comprehensive approach to its certification standards, and that is evident in the work we do here at Big River Steel,” said Dan Brown, senior vice president of Advanced Technology Steelmaking for U. S. Steel and Chief Operating Officer of Big River Steel Works.
“Our transparency around decarbonization and collaborative approach with our suppliers and community all play a role in what it means to have truly sustainable steel products for our customers,” Brown said.
U. S. Steel’s Big River achieved Certified Steel by demonstrating how sustainability permeates throughout the company’s operations.
For example, it is more sustainable to obtain the input materials closest to the facility with a known supply chain source, so iron ore pellets are mined and produced at U. S. Steel’s Minnesota Ore Operations, which serve as raw materials for pig iron production at U. S. Steel’s Gary Works in northwest Indiana, which then becomes a key input in the steelmaking process at U. S. Steel’s Big River, according to the company.