Our approach
We know the importance of creating a standard to ensure that steel industry customers – and thereby consumers – can be confident that the steel they use has been sourced and produced responsibly at every stage.
By creating a multi-stakeholder forum to build trust and achieve consensus, ResponsibleSteel™ aims to enhance the responsible sourcing, production, use and recycling of steel through the development of standards, certification and related tools.
In November 2019, ResponsibleSteel™ published a performance standard for steel making sites, and in 2020 we will consider how it handles raw materials and other supply chain issues. Members using the standard will be able to gain competitive advantage by using the standards to inform customers of the credibility and rigor that has gone into auditing their social and environmental performance.
The ResponsibleSteel™ performance standard – with 12 environmental, social and governance principles - was published in November 2019. The product standard will be finalised in 2020.
ArcelorMittal has been a driving force in the creation of ResponsibleSteel™ and is represented on the Board of Directors. In developing the ResponsibleSteel™ standard, ArcelorMittal has been working with other steel companies such as Blue Scope, Voestalpine and Aperam, together with a range of stakeholders across the steel value chain Anglo American, automotive makers Daimler and BMW, civil society organisations Mighty Earth, IUCN and the Climate Group, the bank HSBC and the global union IndustriAll.
Having run pilot audits across key sites in 2018 and 2019, whilst the standard was in development, ArcelorMittal plans to start certifying various sites across the group in 2020, including the ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products division.