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Although it claims that there are currently no substitutes for steel in the steel industry, the company Gerdau is seeking to bring sustainability to its production chain, using ESG practices as a way to ensure a reduction in carbon emissions.
Gerdau is the largest steel producer in the Brazilian market and, for this Monday (27/06), seeks to bring sustainability practices to its production chain as a way to make the steel industry cleaner. This is because the company stated that steel is still a product no substitutes in the current market, but that the adoption of ESG practices during the production chain, mainly to reduce carbon emissions, can contribute to making the sector more responsible in the environmental segment.
Project to reduce Gerdau's carbon gas emissions is the company's main alternative to bring sustainability to the steel industry in Brazil
With a surprising business portfolio throughout the national territory, Gerdau has become a reference in the country and abroad in relation to steel production, since the company is the national leader in the steel industry. However, this is still a sector that has several impacts on the environment during its production chain and, with sustainability increasingly at the forefront of international debates, the steelmaker now seeks to play its part in this scenario.
Thus, the company commented on the future of the steel production market and said that, unfortunately, this is still an essential material for the industry and that it is not possible to replace it. Despite this, Gustavo Werneck, CEO of the Gerdau steel company, believes that the best alternative for the sector today is to seek to innovate in production and adopt sustainability practices to make it cleaner. For this, the company has a program to reduce carbon emissions in the steel production chain.
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During the month of February 2022, Gerdau announced its new sustainability project focused on reducing the emission of polluting gases, such as carbon. And, as the main goal for the initiative, the steel company intends to reduce emissions from 0,93 ton of carbon equivalent per ton of steel to 0,83 by the year 2030.
With the completion of the project, the company will achieve a result lower than the global target, currently set at 1,89 tons of carbon per ton of steel, bringing more sustainability to the steel industry.
Adoption of renewable energies and recycling are the main objectives for Gerdau's carbon emission reduction project for the steel industry
The Gerdau company continues its search for sustainability in the steel industry and, for that, intends to focus on two main fronts in its project of low emission of carbon: the adoption of renewable energies and the recycling of materials. To this end, the company announced a series of solar parks built both in Brazil and in the US, as a way to guarantee a sustainable supply of energy.
Recycling, on the other hand, is an initiative already present at the company and will continue to be a focus during the low carbon steel production project. Currently, 73% of the steel produced by the company comes from the recycling of ferrous scrap, making it the largest recycler in Latin America.
As a result, for each ton of scrap recycled, the emission of 1,5 tons of carbon dioxide is avoided, contributing to neutralizing the emission of gas over the next few years.
Finally, the executive Gustavo Werneck, CEO of the steel company Gerdau, reinforced the need for more investments in recycling scrap for steel production and said that “When I produce scrap steel, there is no mining or dam. It's the best of all worlds”, reaffirming the company's commitment to the environment.
