Schnitzer says decarbonization efforts go beyond recycling

Portland, Oregon-based scrap recycler and steel producer Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc. says its decarbonization efforts have entailed using carbon-free electricity and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, in addition to its role “supplying recycled metals that are critical to the production of more sustainable products, including those associated with global decarbonization efforts.”

The company has released its fiscal year 2022 sustainability report titled “Recycled Metals for a Low-Carbon Future.” In addition to reporting recycling- and energy-related aspects of its operations, the firm also presents information on its safety and diversity activities.

Schnitzer has joined other multilocation scrap companies, including Sims Ltd. and EMR Ltd., in making regular references to their decarbonization efforts.

“Almost 10 years ago, we created a sustainability framework based on three pillars: people, planet and profit,” Schnitzer CEO Tamara Lundgren says. “In fiscal 2022, we advanced our sustainability goals by supporting our employees and communities, implementing best-in-class environmental processes and infrastructure, expanding our operating platform and introducing new net zero carbon emissions product offerings."

On the decarbonization front, the company says it achieved 100 percent net carbon-free electricity use within its operations for the second consecutive year, reduced Scopes 1 and 2 GHG emissions from recycling operations by 24 percent compared with 2019 and launched GRN Steel, which it calls a line of net zero carbon emissions steel products.

Regarding its safety record, Schnitzer says 90 percent of its facilities were free of any lost-time injuries, providing it with “the second-best safety performance in the company’s history,” according to the firm.

On the diversity, front the metals company says currently more than 50 of the people on its board of directors are women.

The sustainability accomplishments have been beneficial to its operations, states Schnitzer, which says it “achieved the second-best fiscal year earnings in the company’s history” in fiscal year 2022. The company also added 10 new operating locations through acquisitions in the southeastern U.S., including its first shredding operation in that region.

“These achievements would not have been possible without all our employees living our core values of safety, sustainability and integrity and operating with the agility, resilience and collaboration that have underpinned our success,” Lundgren says.

“We are a company built on a culture and by a workforce that has always been broad-based, and we understand that excellence defined by innovation, employee engagement and productivity are not sustainable without a culture based on respect, fairness and equal opportunity,” she adds. “I am immensely proud of what our team has accomplished.”

“Our fiscal 2022 sustainability report underscores the deliberate steps we are taking to further integrate our sustainability goals into the fabric of our operations,” Schnitzer Chief Sustainability Officer Judodine Nichols says. “This year’s achievements were made possible due to continuous improvement in employee engagement and management practices and significant capital investment in industry-leading emissions control technologies."

Schnitzer Steel Industries operates metal recycling facilities in 25 states, Puerto Rico and Western Canada. The firm’s Pick-n-Pull subsidiary has  51 stores selling used auto parts from salvaged vehicles, and the company’s electric arc furnace (EAF) steel mill in Portland and downstream plants make rebar, wire rod and other steel products.