Originally established as a steel recycling business in 1915, our company was built on the foundation of sustainability before “sustainability” was even a concept. To remain a vital business and stay competitive in the market, we continuously evaluate and improve our operations to ensure our environmental performance remains among the industry’s best. The effects of climate change—such as land degradation and extreme weather events—may directly impact CMC’s ability to operate. Active and innovative management of GHG emissions, energy, air pollutants, water use, material sourcing and waste production are essential for CMC to lower costs, ensure regulatory compliance, enhance operational efficiency, minimize our impacts on the environment and alleviate risks to long-term business success.
We’ve made considerable progress in terms of reducing emissions and resource use. As proud as we are of these accomplishments, our heritage compels us toward continuous improvement and innovation. We are committed to investing in new technologies, improving our products and educating our employees, contractors and customers about the benefits of our products.
CMC has engaged our suppliers to learn about their latest technologies related to electrical, natural gas and carbon efficiency. We strive to ensure that our stakeholders understand the benefits of pursuing sustainable solutions. For example, at CMC Steel Florida, we’re working with our supplier to replace 30-year-old natural gas preheaters that use outdated automation and instrumentation with more efficient burners and state-of-the-art automation and instrumentation.
Big data and analysis of critical information will play an increasing role in CMC’s energy efficiency improvements. By employing more artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, we will gain even more insights and identify areas to optimize.
We are also exploring the use of digital twins, or virtual representations and simulations, of our physical processes. This helps us work toward our goal of producing steel using fewer inputs and alloys.
To remain a viable business and stay competitive in the market, we continuously evaluate our operations to ensure our environmental performance remains among the industry’s best.