Protecting Our Planet

To help ensure the future of steel is one that safeguards our planet, we continue to invest and innovate to reduce our environmental footprint. Our efforts span all facets of our business, representing the combined efforts of our dedicated employees, our senior management and Board of Directors, our customers, our suppliers, our partners and our communities. We are encouraged by our progress in reducing our emissions, reducing our energy footprint, reducing waste, and protecting water, air and nature and biodiversity. We know there is more to do to protect the planet, and we are determined to accelerate our efforts
Environmental Stewardship and Management
Environmental stewardship is a core value at U. S. Steel. As one of the S.T.E.E.L. Principles that govern our practices, caring for the environment is deeply embedded in our culture. Our planet’s future depends on safeguarding the vital natural resources that keep our communities and ecosystems healthy.

Due to the broad range of environmental regulations relevant to our industry, we must meet extensive environmental compliance requirements across our operations. Environmental compliance and building strong community relationships are two of the U. S. Steel Environmental Affairs team’s top priorities.

Our environmental compliance costs include outlays for testing, sampling, monitoring, inspections and equipment. For example, at the Mon Valley Works alone, U. S. Steel spends approximately $100 million annually on environmental compliance. U. S. Steel’s environmental expenditures totaled $354 million in 2024, $345 million in 2023, $334 million in 2022 and $302 million in 2021, representing approximately 2% of U. S. Steel’s total costs and expenses for those years.

We are dedicated to environmental stewardship by reducing emissions in our operations and implementing innovative best-practice solutions that enhance our environmental performance and optimize energy consumption. Sixty-two percent of our production facilities, covering almost 90% of our steel production, including Gary Works, Mon Valley Works, Great Lakes Works, Granite City Works, U. S. Steel Košice (USSK) and U. S. Steel’s Big River Steel, have Environmental Management Systems that are certified to ISO 14001 — the International Organization for Standardization’s framework for measuring and enhancing environmental performance. See our website for a full list of our certifications. Visit our environmental management-related highlights and progress.

Combining two of our S.T.E.E.L. Principles — Environmental Stewardship and Excellence and Accountability — into one initiative, we launched our Environmental Excellence campaign in 2022. The initiative’s goal is to strengthen awareness, education and engagement efforts regarding environmental stewardship throughout our organization. In 2024, we continued to support and advance this campaign by extending many of its components and initiating several new campaign actions.

One way we work to have a positive impact is through our Steel SUSTAINABILITY Employee Resource Group (ERG). Created in 2022, its members continually foster greater participation in events and volunteer activities that heighten awareness of and support for Environmental Excellence throughout our workforce.

We believe that being a good corporate citizen requires a dedicated focus on how our industry can work to positively impact the environment while creating responsible steel options. U. S. Steel advocates for the development of appropriate air, water and waste laws and regulations at the local, state, national and international levels that are based upon proven technology, sound science and data.

Environmental Excellence Awards

The goals of our Environmental Excellence Awards program, initiated in 2023, are to recognize individuals and teams for a strong commitment to Environmental Excellence and to encourage all employees to further embrace and continue to strive for Environmental Excellence. The 2024 award winners:

  • Scott Pisula, Mon Valley Works/Clairton, for leadership and commitment to improved battery performance 
  • Jacob Busche, Mon Valley Works/Edgar Thomson, for improvements that control potential odors and reduce costs at blast furnace slag pits
  • John Elinburg, Big River Steel Works, for prioritizing material for reuse and recycling, and reducing emissions
  • Ruben Munoz, Gary Works, for leadership in leveraging in-house resources to improve water treatment and reduce risk
  • Brian Kishel, Midwest Plant, for water treatment improvements to ensure compliance and reduce chemical usage
  • Russ Scott, Great Lakes Works, for water management to reduce the risk of reportable discharge
  • Bill Milano, Ed Miller, Doug Johnson and Jason Jeffers, Granite City Works, for optimized blast furnace gas flaring to reduce emissions while increasing steam generation and energy efficiency
  • Peter Petričko, Ján Bača, Albert Vinc and Vjačeslav Kupko, USSK, for ecological reconstruction of a firefighting pond
  • Agáta Mihalková, Beáta Szilágyiová, Izabela Pristášová and Martin Píro, USSK, for a preventive wastewater monitoring program
  • Brett Standifier, Fairfield Tubular, for monitoring and maintenance of environmental systems to ensure compliance, reduce discharges and prevent incidents
  • Fidan Bersin, Michael Forconi, Brandon Jones, Kraig Raiber and Jason Svaleso, Keetac, for burner gas train modification and use of scrubber chemical to optimize equipment operation
  • Jeff Kiel and Erik Lacksonen, Minntac, for water injection on agglomerator kiln burners.
U. S. Steel Earns World’s First-Ever Certification for ResponsibleSteel™ Certified Steel at its Big River Steel Operation
In August 2024, U. S. Steel became the first steel producer in the world to earn the right to sell its products as ResponsibleSteel™ Certified Steel. The ground breaking certification, which comes from the industry’s leading global standards body for sustainable and ethical steel production, was awarded to U. S. Steel’s Big River Steel facility in Osceola, Arkansas. It was a recognition of our ongoing dedication to advancing sustainability in steel production while delivering profitable steel product solutions.

To achieve Certified Steel, Big River Steel was independently audited against over 500 environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria, including progress on the responsible sourcing of input materials and site-level decarbonization. These requirements call for rigorous ESG integration and transparency across the steel supply chain, from input materials to product. Big River Steel, for example, improves sustainability by obtaining inputs from nearby sources, including sourcing pig iron from U. S. Steel’s Gary Works in Indiana, which in turn receives iron ore from our Minnesota Ore Operations.

In 2022, the Big River Steel facility became the first steel producer in North America to receive ResponsibleSteel™ Site Certification. Now, Big River Steel has taken the next step by achieving Progress Level 1 for Certified Steel across both Decarbonization and Materials Sourcing. The new, more demanding certification for the steel the site produces confirms that U. S. Steel is committed to continuing global leadership in steel-industry sustainability, for the benefit of the planet.
Doing more for sustainability

 

Environmental Finance Award

U. S. Steel earned a 2024 Sustainable Debt Award from Environmental Finance for a successful $240 million green bond offering issued through the Arkansas Development Finance Authority. The offering will help finance Big River Steel, the most advanced steelmaking facility in North America, located in Osceola, Arkansas.

Climate Week talk  

During Climate Week in New York City, U. S. Steel President and CEO Dave Burritt joined ResponsibleSteel™ CEO Annie Heaton for a discussion with Climate Group CEO Helen Clarkson about  our respective efforts to accelerate the steel industry’s journey to net zero.

Iron Range Earth Fest  

In April 2024, a team of volunteers from our two Minnesota Ore Operations facilities attended Iron Range Earth Fest, a gathering intended to raise people’s awareness about the need to appreciate and take care of the environment and our natural resources.                                                                                                          
The event is held in Mountain Iron, Minnesota, and hosted by the Iron Range Partnership for Sustainability. For over 15 years, the Iron Range Earth Fest has been the largest celebration of our planet in northern Minnesota, featuring demonstrations, music, exhibitors, a local vendors market, speakers, food and more.

Earth Day  

Employees from our Gary Works and Midwest Plant participated in the Northwest Indian a Earth Day Celebration, hosted by Porter County Recycling & Waste Reduction, where they showcased how steel is used.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Although producing steel is carbon-intensive, we have a roadmap, featured in our Climate Strategy Report, which outlines our vision to get to net-zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2050. Roughly three-quarters of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from integrated steelmaking are associated with the use of coke and coal to chemically reduce and melt iron in blast furnaces.

Energy

We are committed to minimizing our consumption of purchased non-renewable energy. To achieve this goal, we are pursuing multiple pathways, including process innovations, transitioning to renewable energy sources and enhancing energy efficiency beyond steelmaking operations.

Waste and Recycling

U. S. Steel is committed to reducing waste throughout our operations and production processes. We strive to reduce waste generation, optimize resource utilization and foster a circular economy. Extending the life cycles of our products through recycling is the main way to reduce the number of our products that end up in landfills. We have a long history of recycling substantial quantities of scrap metal and steelmaking coproducts and byproducts.

Nature

Water, air and biodiversity are among nature’s most precious gifts. Protecting them around all our facilities and nearby communities is one of our highest priorities.

Responsible Supply Chain

We focus on resilience and ongoing supply chain management to ensure the long-term success of our business while minimizing risks and uncovering opportunities. We want our suppliers to join us in creating a sustainable future with steel.