The search for sustainable steel

How to find it, buy it, and use it

What do we mean when we talk about sustainable steel? Steel with low embodied carbon – in other words, lower emissions and global warming and sustainability impacts from the steel supply chain, which is one of the biggest contributors to climate change and environmental issues.

Why is sustainable steel a topic of discussion? Demand for sustainable construction materials has been steadily rising, with many local and federal governments introducing decarbonisation initiatives, environmental impact goals, and carbon reporting. 

Many developers today centre sustainability as a key consideration and have internal commitments and project carbon reduction targets. As well as for their own purposes, reporting is driven by 

1. Asset Owners – with ESG reporting mandates, internal carbon reduction targets, and social procurement targets

2. Mandatory climate-related financial disclosure requirements

3. Third-party certification (e.g. Green Star, ISC, and NABERS)

The industry is moving towards mandating that all products, including steel, have Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) and be produced by manufacturers approved under a recognised sustainability scheme. Without these credentials, products – and the projects they are used in – may face downgrading in environmental assessments.

Sourcing sustainable steel

Unfortunately, with the rise in demand for sustainable products has come an increase in ‘greenwashing’ – claims of ESG standards without proof or accuracy. 

Another challenge is establishing which product is actually ‘the most sustainable’ choice. This is complex thanks to the variety of methods used to measure ‘sustainability’, and the fact that many products are self-assessed.

Then there is the matter of traceability: once you order the most sustainable product, can you be sure that the construction steels you ordered are what you received?

In this market, project stakeholders seek a way to measure and verify products’ ESG credentials. Not surprisingly, these sustainability challenges have resulted in a significant increase in demand for a premium, independent verification scheme in the area of steel sustainability. A verification scheme that provides surety there is no producer bias, misrepresentation or dilution of the expected certification process. 

Verifying sustainable steel

Sustainability currently has no specific parameters. When considering a third-party sustainability certification scheme, it is crucial to consider what is actually being audited and how that can be used for project reporting.

Not all certification schemes are created equal. For example, many fail to assess critical factors in a meaningful way. Sustainability must go beyond emissions – products must not cause damage at any part of the supply chain, including human rights and labour conditions in sourcing and production, such as ethical business practices; modern slavery; fair supplier treatment; and the socioeconomic impacts of the value chain – in addition to the environmental impacts, including circular economy and climate change, pollution and depletion.  

It’s important that sustainability certification analyses the full lifecycle of a product. Product producers’ environmental impact may be quantified through a lifecycle assessment (LCA) quantifying the kilograms of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) per tonne (i.e. the global warming potential or GWP). However, for steel manufacturers, environmental product declarations (EPDs) are presented to quantify not only the GWP but also the broader environmental impacts of manufacturing the steel products. The emissions produced by processing or fabricating steel are small compared to the steel manufacturer’s emissions. 

In practice, when a GWP for manufactured material is usually provided, a processor should takes this and add their contribution so that, at point of construction, the total GWP is known. By providing this, the total carbon emissions through the whole of the supply chain can be accurately determined. This is something asked for in the industry today: major developers have said that when product is delivered to their side gate, they want it to arrive with the GWP. Lots of tenders seek this information.

Another concern is that most available sustainability certification schemes are based wholly, or largely, on ISO 14001:2016 Environmental Management which focuses on documented systems rather than assessing actual activity and product output. When used on their own, ISO 14001-based schemes are increasingly considered not to provide adequate verification of supplier claims of sustainability.

ACRS SCS Scheme

In 2021, the Australasian Certification Authority for Reinforcing and Structural Steels – ACRS – introduced its Sustainable Constructional Steel (SCS) Certification Scheme, to enable consumers, industry & government to confidently source high quality constructional steels produced under high ESG standards and to combat ESG confusion through the steel supply chain.

The Scheme ensures that construction steel entering Australia and New Zealand meets the UN guidelines on global environmental, social and ethical standards, using independent certification of ESG criteria and performance indicators. 

ACRS sees increasing demand for the Scheme as designers, builders, and others seek credible ways to demonstrate compliance with sustainability frameworks, reduce project risk, and meet growing regulatory and investor expectations.

The SCS scheme provides the industry with a uniform and benchmarked approach to reducing impact and demonstrating commitment to sustainable principles. ESG data is provided in an independently-certified manner – and via one uniform approach, rather than different criteria, processes and documentation for every product. Having an internationally-benchmarked and independently-certified scheme for assessment of steel means sustainability data can be seamlessly passed forward in the value chain. Without it, gathering information on a project at the end of the supply chain or meeting benchmarks becomes a monumental task. 

ACRS has since launched ACRS Cloud for digital traceability of steel products, allowing for better transparency through the supply chain journey to confirm compliance – this traceability is also essential for sustainability measurements. ACRS Cloud now can provide traceability down to batch level with further roll outs and enhancements on the horizon. Steel users can check steel’s sustainability certification in the secure environment of the ACRS Cloud app, just by scanning product QR codes.

The day is approaching when sustainability accreditation will be a given. For now, it protects the industry from greenwashing and verifies information on carbon footprints, traceability and sustainability goals.

The SCS Scheme provides everyone from procurer to the public with confidence that the steel installed in their homes, high-rise commercial and residential buildings, and infrastructure projects, meets the highest global standards in terms of both quality and sustainability.