ArcelorMittal Tubarão, Brazil, has won the worldsteel Steelie Award in the ‘Excellence in Sustainability’ category for its efforts to pave rural roads in Brazil using steel by-products.

The ‘Excellence in sustainability’ award acknowledges the sustainability initiative which has made the greatest contribution to all three areas of sustainability – economic, environmental and social value. The winners of the 8th Steelie Awards were announced at the Annual Dinner of the World Steel Association (worldsteel) on 16 October.

Tubarão’s accolade-winning project is a result of ArcelorMittal R&D department’s ground breaking work on developing REVSOL® and REVSOL Plus®, products which turn steel slag into a primary road, car park and storage yard coating, replacing the use of non-renewable sources in road building and significantly reducing the need for road maintenance and the costs associated with it. 

Paving what had been dirt roads has also improved access to services such as garbage collection, ambulances, and police for 30 municipalities in the state of Espirito Santo over a 200km radius.  It has reduced maintenance costs for the vehicles which use these better-quality roads and has speeded up delivery of local produce, improving the quality of life for local people, and achieving better prices for small farmers whose produce is fresher and more saleable when it reaches consumers.

ArcelorMittal Acindar, Argentina, was shortlisted in the same category, for a project which built a secure breeding centre for the conservation of jaguars out of reused steel.