Harsco releases 2020 sustainability report

Harsco Corp., Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, has released its “2020 Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) Report”, highlighting the company’s corporate sustainability accomplishments throughout its 2020 fiscal year.

The report highlights several areas of growth for the company. This includes innovative solutions, creating a circular economy and workplace safety. 

“Our corporate vision to be a global leader of environmental solutions is fully intertwined with our ambition to be an ESG leader in the industry and is critical to successfully executing our ongoing growth strategy,” says Nick Grasberger, the CEO of Harsco Corp. “Our clear vision of sustainable environmental solutions gives purpose to Harsco’s present and defines our future.”

According to the report, the company now derives 82 percent of its annual revenue from environmental solutions, up from 62 percent three years ago. More than 75 percent of waste and byproducts processed annually is recycled or repurposed by Harsco. The company also launched 29 new environmental solutions in 2020, an increase of 31 percent from 2019. 

Harsco also has incorporated an ESG modifier in its top 70 executives’ performance evaluations as part of its annual incentive plan. According to a news release from the company, the addition will adjust compensation by +/- 10 percent across several ESG dimensions, including health and safety, environmental compliance, ethics, diversity, equity and inclusion and employee engagement.

“Tying a portion of annual incentive compensation for our top 70 executives to our ESG performance is another demonstration of how seriously we are committed to making progress on our ESG goals while building a better future for our people and our planet,” Grasberger says.

Some other things the report touches on include how Harsco plans to reduce the energy and carbon intensity of its operations by 15 percent by 2025. For workplace safety, the company hopes to achieve a total recordable incident rate of less than 1 in 2021.

The company says its other priorities for 2021 include increasing the proportion of mill services that provide environmental benefits to steel customers. It also wants to rebalance its portfolio to be more environmentally focused. 

Its Clean Earth priorities for 2021 include focusing on growth opportunities such as Clean Earth’s Fullcircle Advanced Waste Lifecycle Program, a concierge service that carefully and strategically analyzes waste at each source of generation. The company also would like to add treatment capabilities at existing transfer, storage and disposal facilities.

The “2020 Harsco ESG Report” is informed by leading sustainability reporting standards, including the Global Reporting Initiative and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board.