Culture of Sustainability
Gerdau integrates green practices into our operations. Through initiatives including waste reduction, sustainable purchasing, pollution prevention, energy efficiency, and alternative transportation, we strive to lessen our impact on the environment.
Proud To Be Green
Recycling
Steel is an endlessly recyclable material. Each year, Gerdau transforms more than 14 million tons of recycled scrap into new steel products. Most of the scrap comes from discarded materials. Material recycled from automotive, packaging and appliance production processes all goes into the creation of new steel products.
Did You Know?
- Producing steel from scrap metal reduces the amount of material deposited in landfills.
- The use of steel scrap as a raw material reduces energy consumption in our production process, and minimizes emissions of CO2.
- Recycling scrap is also great for our economy, as it generates jobs for thousands of people through an extensive chain of scrap collection and processing operations.
Air
Gerdau mills have modern dust removal systems that capture particles generated in the steel production process. This filtered material is a co-product used by other industries.
Gerdau decreases its CO2 generation by:
- Replacing oil with natural gas
- Implementing projects focused on energy efficiency
- Updating technology at our plants
- Using scrap as a raw material
Water
We rely on water to cool production equipment and steel products. To conserve this water, Gerdau uses a closed-loop system that allows this valuable resource to be treated and reused. This process optimizes and substantially reduces water consumption.
Through new technology and awareness, our water intake is decreasing. Today, the company reuses almost 97% of its industrial process water.
$67 million
invested to
protect the
environment
12,500 acres
of preserved
forests
9,000 hours
of environmental
education
training
Co-Products
Co-products - which are the secondary materials produced during steel production - can be used in numerous industrial applications, such as road paving, railway ballasts, foundries, cement manufacturing and ceramics. In 2017, Gerdau reused 73% of its co-products globally, and donated remaining co-products to help municipalities improve the roads in areas near our operations.
Green Space
Gerdau's commitment to a sustainable future is reflected by the green areas we maintain on our mill properties. This effort to coexist with the surrounding land provides a buffer for neighboring property uses, and allows nature to prosper.
