Responsible steel
by Dagmar Dieterle
On the occasion of EuroBLECH 2018 Jochen Grünwald, Managing Director Flat Products at ArcelorMittal Commercial Germany, spoke about the project "Responsible Steel" which his company co-founded. marketSTEEL had the opportunity to follow an interview with Mr. Grünwald and Alan Knight, Head of Sustainability:
marketSTEEL: What does "responsibility" mean in terms steel production?
Jochen Grünewald: Through ResponsibleSteel, we are taking a consensus-based approach to really defining what ‘responsibility’ means in practice for the steel industry. Of course, we have our own views, however, we believe it is important to agree a common, global approach and definition via a multistakeholder process. This is the core of what ResponsibleSteel will achieve with its Performance Standard.
marketSTEEL: What does "responsibility" mean with regards to the procurement of raw materials?
Alan Knight: To say that our steel is ‘responsible’ we need to be sure that the raw materials we use also come from responsible sources. Again, we are taking a multi-stakeholder approach here and working towards agreeing a consensus with our customers, our suppliers and civil society on what the responsible production and sourcing of raw materials mean. We are supporting two certification initiatives working specifically on mining – the Towards Sustainable Mining initiative and the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance.
marketSTEEL: What other organisations are participating in ResponsibleSteel?
Jochen Grünewald: There are currently 10 official members, with many more organisations participating in the standard setting working groups. The current members are: ArcelorMittal, BlueScope Steel, Daimler, BMW, Carbon Disclosure Project, Fauna & Flora International, Material Efficiency Research Group, International Union for Conservation of Nature, HSBC bank, and IndustriALL global union.
marketSTEEL: When will the ResponsibleSteel certification be available on the market?
Jochen Grünewald: We expect the site certification to be available towards the end of 2019.
ArcelorMittal is the world's largest steel and mining company; it is present in more than 60 countries and with production sites in more than 20 countries. Following its philosophy to produce safe and sustainable steel, the company is the leading supplier of quality steel in the major global steel markets.