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1764160144 | Adam | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: 1764160144
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Video Summary
Summary
Core Theme
Swiss Steel Group is committed to environmental sustainability, particularly in addressing climate change and reducing its significant carbon footprint in steelmaking through innovative processes, product offerings, and employee engagement.
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Welcome to the Swiss Steel Group
environmental sustainability training module.
module.
This training covers why environmental
sustainability matters and our position
climate change and steel making and our
position in Swiss Steel Group's goals to
reduce emissions by Steel Group
emissions by
contribute broader environmental efforts
as well as how employees can contribute
Global temperatures have already risen
by over 1 degree and the last decade
stands to be the hottest ever recorded.
The cause of this rise in temperature,
greenhouse gas levels are at their
highest point in over 2 million years.
These figures highlight why
environmental action is not only an
ecological necessity but also an
economic imperative. It is estimated
that we will lose 10% of global gross
Steel production is one of the largest
contributors to greenhouse gas
emissions, accounting for about 8% of
Our operations are energy intensive by
nature, driven by both electricity and
natural gas. In total, we consumed 1,270
gatt hours of electricity and 1,775
gwatt hours of natural gas in 2024.
That brings our combined energy
consumption to around 3,045 gatt hours.
To put that into perspective, that's
roughly equivalent to half the annual
gas and electricity consumption of the
entire city of Zurich in 2022.
This comparison underlines our
responsibility and the importance of
every step we take to increase energy
efficiency and transition to cleaner sources.
As concern for the environment grows
worldwide, governments and industries
are pushing for change. Policies like
the European Green Deal and the Paris
Climate Agreement aim to reduce
emissions and incentivize lowcarbon
products. Our customers industries are
part of this shift. They're asking for
lower emission products and many now
require the steel we produce to reach a
minimum threshold for recycled content.
There's further economic aspects to
consider. Companies like ours have to
buy certificates to cover the carbon
dioxide we emit and the cost of these
Most of the global steel production
relies on the primary route which
involves the use of mined iron ore and
coal to produce steel through a
combination of blast furnaces and basic
oxygen furnaces. This method is highly
emissions intensive due to its reliance
on fossil fuels like coal. At Swiss
Steel Group, we exclusively use the
secondary route relying on scrap steel
and electrical energy rather than coal.
This method inherently reduces emissions
and allows us to utilize decarbonized
electrical energy sources such as
renewables and nuclear power, making our
operations more sustainable and
So the starting point of our steel
production is scrap metal. But to meet
the exact needs of our customers, we
also use small amounts of ferro alloys
and materials like lime. In general,
higher alloy steel grades like stainless
steel require more primary materials. We
aim to increase the recycled content of
our steel grades with careful scrap
sorting, increasing the use of alloid
scrap over mind materials. Some of our
electric arc furnaces have gas burners
to facilitate the melting process, but
the bulk of the melting is done with
electricity. This keeps our emissions
low. At Steeltech in Switzerland, the
CO2 footprint per ton of steel is less
than 2% of the global average for
traditional steel making. According to
World Steel,
consecutive processes such as hot
rolling, forging, and heat treatment
rely heavily on natural gas burners,
making these steps more emissive than
melting and casting in many cases.
We carefully sort over 100 scrap types
for optimum resource use and process
around 1.5 million tons of scrap a year.
Climate change presents us with two
types of risk.
Transition risks from adapting to a
lowcarbon economy such as a drop in
automotive steel demand.
Physical risks from climate related
events such as flooding which can halt
production for weeks and block essential
But climate change also presents us with
clear opportunities. Global demand for
low emission, high performance steel is
rising. This presents an opportunity to
collaborate with similarly
wellpositioned suppliers to source
lowcarbon raw materials and make
recycled steel central to the green
transition to be used in many solutions
from renewable energy infrastructure to
low emission vehicles. Our
Our
portfolio is built around three distinct
product categories.
Green steel is our standard offer,
delivering highquality steel with a
significantly lower carbon footprint
than the industry average and primary
route producers.
Climate Plus goes a step further. It is
designed for our customers with
ambitious sustainability goals, offering
enhanced transparency and zero scope to
emissions due to its use of 100%
renewable electricity. Stainless Plus
brings this same climate conscious
approach to the world of stainless
steel, combining corrosion resistance
with circular economy benefits and
produced with a scrap content of at
least 95% by replacing primary alloys
with carefully selected alloy scrap.
Our commitment to sustainability is
backed up by independent assessments and
recognized performance improvements over
the last few years. We've signed the
science-based target initiative and
achieved an A rating from CDP, the
carbon disclosure project, placing us
among the leaders in climate
transparency and action. With Ecoardis,
we've reached the gold level, ranking in
the top 5% of all rated companies. In
2024, we were also recognized with the
German Sustainability Award. And to
ensure the credibility of our emissions
across scopes 1, 2, and three, we have
But how can we measure our emissions to
set ourselves apart from our
competitors? Let's have a quick look at
the structural framework we use to
categorize various emission sources.
The greenhouse gas protocol introduced
in 2015 divides emissions into three
clear categories or scopes. Scope one
emissions, which represent 24% of our
total emissions, are primarily caused by
natural gas combustion in our rolling
mill, forge, and heat treatment furnaces
and removing carbon from the melt. These
processes are essential for steel production.
production.
Scope 2 emissions making up 10% stem
from the electricity we purchase. Sites
in Germany and the US are particularly
impacted, which counts intensity in
their national grids compared to our
operations. All other indirect emissions
upream and downstream in the benefit
from decarbonized and renewable energy
sources for the emissions from the
production of purchased goods, energy
related activities not included in scope
one and two waste and the processing and
end of life of sold products.
Swiss Steel Group was the first steel
maker to have its decarbonization
targets validated by the science-based
targets initiative setting a benchmark
for the industry. By 2030, we aim to
reduce GHG emissions per ton of hot
formed steel by 23.7%
and absolute scope 3 emissions by 25%
compared to 2021 levels. For heat
treatment and finishing processes, the
goal is a 42% reduction in scope 1 and
Our decarbonization road map targets the
steel industry's core challenge, cutting
emissions while sustaining performance.
The greatest reductions will come from
switching to lowcarbon electrical
energy, especially for powering our melt
shops. Through a consortium in Germany,
we aim to secure lowcarbon electrical
energy and eliminate scope 2 emissions
at scale despite the highly emissive
wider electricity market there. Next is
efficiency. By upgrading furnaces and
digitizing operations, we're cutting
both energy use and emissions across
scopes one and two significantly.
We're also electrifying key processes by
replacing fossil fueled furnaces. This
directly lowers scope one emissions and
boosts flexibility for future energy systems.
systems.
In parallel, we're testing circular and
biogenic materials to replace fossil
carbon inputs in steel making. Finally,
we're investing in future fuels through
the Hydreams project, a European
research effort exploring hydrogen oxy
combustion. This could one day enable
fossil-free high temperature processes,
though it is still in its early stages.
One of the biggest challenges in
decarbonizing electric steel making lies
outside the plant, namely in the carbon
intensity of the national electricity
grid. As shown here, sites in Germany
and the US still rely heavily on
fossil-based electricity. In Germany,
almost 40% of the power mix is still
from carbonintensive sources. And in the
US, that number reaches 60%. By
contrast, our sites in Switzerland and
Quebec benefit from nearly 100%
renewable electricity with emission
factors below 10 kg of CO2 per megawatt
hour. This means that the exact same EF
molting process can have very different
climate impacts depending on the
We track and measure environmental
performance and set ambitious targets
for our key performance indicators. We
operate transparently and engage with
the public, employees, and suppliers in
We want to make safe and sustainable
products. So, we design for durability,
recyclability, and lower environmental
impact. Hazardous substances are avoided
where possible and impacts to air, water
and soil are minimized and kept below
legal limits with restoration measures
taken where necessary in regard to biodiversity.
We further have three main resource
efficiency targets set for 2030 in the
areas of energy, recycled content and
We all play a part in maintaining best
sustainable practice. Here are some
things you can keep in mind in your
day-to-day activities.
Safe and responsible production. Report
unknown or contaminated materials as
well as spoilages and leakages.
Consider environmental impact when
changing and implementing new processes
and close doors to reduce noise and heat loss.
loss.
Be mindful of energy, water, materials,
and tool use. Share ideas to reduce
resource consumption. Reduce internal
scrap and waste by sorting and
separating byproducts diligently. When
in doubt, there are countless resources
you can draw from. Ask your supervisor,
your local environmental team, or check
the internet. If you have any questions
or are looking for further resources,
the current non-financial report and
policy statement are available on our
website, while the environmental policy
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