On 20 February, EcoVadis, the world's largest provider of sustainability ratings, awarded BENTELER Steel/Tube the Gold Medal. The recent rating emphasises the company's commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
This puts BENTELER Steel/Tube in the top five per cent of companies rated by EcoVadis in the "Production of pig iron and steel" category.
"As a global group in an energy-intensive industry, we are aware of our responsibility for the environment and future generations", emphasises Dr. Tobias Braun, CFO of the BENTELER Group and Managing Director and CFO of the Steel/Tube Division. "Sustainability is therefore an important part of our corporate strategy: we are consistently reducing CO2 emissions and focussing on the circular economy. Steel production at our electric steel plant in Lingen produces around 75 % less CO2 than steel production using the usual blast furnace route - a real trump card in the realisation of our sustainability strategy. We want to become CO2-neutral in the Steel/Tube Division by 2045. This includes the supply chain as well as production and our products. In the latter area in particular, we have set further accents for more sustainable steels and steel tube products with the introduction of our new CliMore® product brand."
"Gold medal from EcoVadis gives customers guidance and security"
"After silver in 2022, now the gold medal - proof that we are on the right track and that our commitment is paying off. However, the award is not only a success for our company, it also gives our customers guidance and security on their journey towards climate neutrality", says Thomas Begemann, Director Strategy, Communication & Innovation at BENTELER Steel/Tube. "Our goal is to consistently reduce CO2 emissions even further. However, this and the green transformation of the steel industry in general also require support from politicians, especially for the development of the necessary infrastructure."
The EcoVadis assessment is based on a defined assessment catalogue in order to obtain a comparable overview of the certified companies. The assessment focuses on 21 CSR criteria, divided into four areas: environment, labour and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement.
These criteria are based on international CSR standards such as the ten principles of the UN Global Compact, the standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the CERES principles, the ISO 26000 standard and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, also known as the "Ruggie Framework".
Strategic commitment to more sustainable steels and steel tube products
BENTELER Steel/Tube had already initiated the "Green Tubes" strategy in 2020. The aim is to reduce the carbon footprint in tube production - for example by using electricity from renewable energy sources, electrifying production facilities and using carbon-neutral input material for welded tubes.
BENTELER's own steelworks in Lingen uses an electric arc furnace to produce new, high-quality steel and billets for steel pipe production from recycled scrap. Compared to steel production using the conventional blast furnace route, this produces 75 % fewer CO2 emissions.
In September last year, CliMore®, a comprehensive product portfolio for sustainably produced steels and steel tubes, was launched on the market. BENTELER Steel/Tube thus supports its customers from various industrial sectors in decarbonising their supply chains and offers full transparency with regard to upstream emissions.
(Quelle: BENTELER)
