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Accepting social and environmental responsibility is an integral part of the corporate culture at voestalpine. The Group’s Linz-based Steel Division is now one of the first steel companies worldwide to have been officially certified as a sustainable production site by the non-profit organisation Responsible Steel.

The pre-condition for certification was to fulfill 200 criteria, which included the responsible procurement of raw materials, reducing CO₂ emissions, and the management of labour and human rights. voestalpine implements sustainability measures throughout the Group on an ongoing basis and is regarded as an industry benchmark for environmental protection.

“Our corporate strategy prioritises corporate responsibility. We have been living up to our ecological and social responsibility for many years. greentec steel is our ambitious phased plan to reduce CO₂ emissions in steel production,” explains Herbert Eibensteiner, CEO of voestalpine AG.

voestalpine explains that using a hybrid technology and electric arc furnaces would allow CO₂ emissions to be reduced by around 30% in a first step to 2030. Over the long-term, the goal is to successively increase the share of green hydrogen used in steel production, arriving at carbon neutral steel by 2050. 

Responsible Steel is the first global certification initiative for sustainability in the steel industry. Certification required the entire location to be subjected to detailed examination by a third party, with the decision made by the independent certification body LRQA. “The certificate we were awarded proves that voestalpine meets strictly defined sustainability standards. This is at the same time an important signal for our customers who are also placing increasing importance on suppliers for whom sustainability is a priority,” says Hubert Zajicek, member of the management board of voestalpine and head of the Steel Division.