Steel Dynamics attains sustainability certifications

Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) has announced that each of its steel mills has attained Global Steel Climate Council (GSCC) product certification. Fort Wayne, Indiana-based SDI makes recycled-content steel at a network of electric arc furnace (EAF) mills and owns the Omni (also known as OmniSource) metals recycling company.

SDI describes the Washington-based GSCC as providing product certification designed to validate that steel products “are on the glidepath to achieve the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement’s 1.5-degree Celsius scenario.”

The steel producer says the GSCC’s Steel Climate Standard provides a single, technology neutral framework for product certification designed to allow steel customers transparency when making lower-carbon emissions steel product purchasing decisions.

The Steel Climate Standard is aligned with the International Energy Agency’s Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector document, adds SDI.

The standard measures steelmaking greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through hot rolling including Scope 1, Scope 2, and upstream Scope 3 emissions categories.

SDI says 2024 GHG emissions intensity data for each of its steel mills were verified by Indiana-based third-party auditing firm Keramida and then certified by the GSCC.

“Steel is an integral component of the global economy and foundational to the world’s essential infrastructure,” says Mark D. Millett, board chair and CEO of SDI.

“The GSCC product certification is recognition that lower-embodied carbon steel products necessary for the transition to a lower-carbon global economy are available now,” adds Millett. “Steel Dynamics is already a leader in producing lower-embodied carbon steel products, and the GSCC product certification recognizes this achievement.”

Continues Millett, “In 2023, we accomplished our previously announced 2025 GHG emissions intensity and renewable electrical energy goals ahead of schedule. In 2024, we announced GSCC certified, science-based GHG emissions intensity targets for our steel mills. Even though our emissions intensity is already among the lowest in the industry, these achievements and our actionable path forward highlight our commitment to further reducing our carbon impact.”