Environmental Stewardship

Why It Matters

CMC was founded as a recycling business and environmental stewardship continues to be at the heart of our company. Our sustainability strategy is designed to maintain our industry-leading environmental performance through our commitment to the efficient use of resources and building a circular economy. We strive to continuously improve our manufacturing processes and embed sustainable practices into all aspects of our operations.

We’re certainly not strangers to environmental risks. The effects of climate change—such as extreme weather events and heat waves—may directly impact our ability to operate, making it critical to proactively manage:

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
Energy
Air pollutants
Water use
Material sourcing
Waste generation

Doing so allows us to:

Enhance operational efficiency
Ensure regulatory compliance
Alleviate risks to long-term business success

Our Approach

Our environmental strategy is primarily focused on reducing GHG emissions from our operations by lowering the energy usage of our mills. We do this by continuously looking at ways to improve our operations and implement innovative technologies and processes. Our electric arc furnace (EAF) technology uses 82% less energy and results in 65% fewer GHG emissions per unit produced as compared to traditional integrated steelmaking. We also strive to purchase a greater percentage of energy produced from renewable resources and work with our utilities in their efforts to green their grids. In addition to energy usage, our strategy addresses other environmental risks across our businesses, including water usage and waste management at our facilities.

CMC’s environmental initiatives incorporate the climate-related risks and opportunities for our global operations that were identified in a climate risk assessment (CRA) we completed in 2023. The CRA process was led by a third party and aligned with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) to assess both physical and transition risks over short-, medium- and long-term timeframes. The CRA also helped identify stakeholder expectations regarding climate risk disclosure, including evolving sustainability reporting requirements by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

Focus on Sustainable Practices

Amid rapidly changing stakeholder expectations, we must heighten our focus on sustainable business practices. CMC continues to invest in advanced processes and technologies that minimize our environmental footprint and use of natural resources while maximizing performance, reducing business risks and building trust with our customers.