In 2019, we invested USD 27 million in our Tamsa facility in Mexico to upgrade the capture and treatment system for steel shop emissions, adding new filters and enhanced extraction capabilities.

New efficiencies in the Finishing Line coating booth at the Bay City mill in Texas have optimized pipe varnish and cut waste. The Thermal Oxidizer destroys 90% of volatile compound emissions contributing to a more sustainable process. At Siderca mill in Argentina we moved from solvent to water-based products as part of a USD 2 million project.

We continuously work to develop Reduce, Recycle, Reuse (3R) initiatives, from reducing single-use plastics to using biodegradable materials. At the Costa Volpino facility in Italy, high temperature fumes are used to dry out sludge from the waste water treatment plant, compacting the volume sent to disposal by 70%. In 2020 alone, we reused or recycled 5,800 tons of wood, 60,000 tons of scale and 260,000 tons of slag.?

We are committed to expanding the use of scrap and increasing material efficiency in our steel making sites as a way of minimizing emissions. In 2020, recycled content in our steel grew to 82% from 70% the year before. Meanwhile, the material efficiency rate reached 98.9%, exceeding the steel industry average of 97.5% as reported by worldsteel for 2019.

The Siderca rolling mill saw an overall 25% reduction in surface water intake since 2018. The Bay City mill in the U.S. works with a 95% water recycling rate system. The same concept is applied at the new seamless pipe processing facility in Colombia where used water is recycled with no industrial discharge.