The Sustainable Steel Council (SSC) is a group of industry leaders committed to the circular economy and New Zealand’s low emissions future. They’ve developed a programme of work that supports the New Zealand steel sector, and we’re proud to have been a member of this sustainability programme, since it started in 2020.
Extending Building Life – steel’s flexibility means it’s a great material of choice for renovating and refurbishing buildings. Using steel in these situations means more value can be obtained from the resources invested to build, operate and maintain the structure.
Ability to Build Faster with Less Disruption – overall construction programmes are shorter using steel due to efficient and precision off-site manufacture and prefabrication, ‘just in time’ deliveries, superior strength-to-weight ratio, rapid installation using few people, ability to install in any weather and overall reduced disruption and disturbance around the site.
Minimal Waste – steel construction’s low-waste credentials benefit all stages of the construction lifecycle from slag being used as aggregate for roading, to computer-controlled production lines with precision cuts minimising defects, to high recyclability.
Competitive Emissions Profile – an important factor when we measure sustainable performance, is carbon emissions and steel compares favourably to other materials such as concrete and timber. One of the key benefits of steel is less reliance on air-conditioning as steels helps keep the building cooler in summer and warmer in winter.
We’re proud to have been a member of and certified to, SSC’s Sustainable Steel Charter since the programme began. After an audit by SSC, we achieved Gold Certification for this programme.
As a member, we commit to below, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals:
Climate change Taking a holistic approach based on the Living Standards framework to help address climate change, a global challenge that affects everyone, everywhere.
Waste and the Circular Economy Strive to optimise the eco-efficiency of products throughout their life cycle. Design for upcycle, re-purpose, reuse and recycling. Separate the technical from the biological.
Safety and Health Foster wellbeing of employees, provide them with a work environment that is, as far as reasonably practical, without risks to their health and safety, enabling them to return safely to their families at the end of each working day.
Diversity, Inclusivity, Engagement with Iwi and Life-Long Learning Create the conditions that allow people to have quality jobs. Reduce inequalities through universal policies, paying attention to the needs of disadvantaged and marginalised populations.
Product Quality and Resilience Strive to meet future challenges of climate change and our shaky isles.
Transparency, Ethics and Legal Compliance Build our knowledge of sustainability and willingly share it with others.