Our commitment to sustainability and society
We are aware of our responsibility towards society and future generations. As a long-standing, family-run company, sustainable management and the economical use of resources have been the basis of our entrepreneurial actions for decades.
By supporting various social projects, we make the future a little bit better. As a training company, we play a significant role in qualifying future skilled workers and securing jobs in the long term.
Climate protection is not possible without steel. Whether in the gearboxes of wind turbines, in the production of primary materials for solar cells, in electric cars or in hydrogen technology - essential components are made of BGH stainless steel. Innovative technologies made from our primary materials thus avoid thousands of tonnes of CO2 every year.
As an electric steel plant, we play a central role in the circular economy. With a scrap input of over 80 %, valuable resources are conserved and long transport routes from mining areas all over the world are avoided. Compared to the blast furnace route, around 70 % of CO2 emissions per tonne of crude steel are already saved.
Against the backdrop of global warming, we see de-industrialisation and the relocation of production to (non-European) countries as counterproductive. Sustainable climate protection only works with competitive products and under fair economic policy conditions that can be planned for the long term.
Sustainability begins with BGH steel
Conserving resources through circular economy
Stainless steel is often an unconscious part of our daily lives - without it, no electric toothbrush, no airbag and no wind turbine would work. But where does the steel come from and how sustainable and resource-conserving is its production?
Steel can be recycled an infinite number of times without any loss of quality. In our electric arc furnaces, the collected and sorted steel scrap is melted down into new, high-quality BGH stainless steel - only energy and a small proportion of alloying elements need to be added to this process from outside.
At BGH, we use more than 80 % scrap from the steel recycling industry as a base material. We re-melt locally collected, processed and sorted steel scrap as well as our own production waste in order to keep transport routes as short as possible and avoid emissions.
Melting takes place in state-of-the-art electric arc furnaces. Each tonne of stainless steel scrap thus saves at least 1.35t CO2 compared to the production of new steel in the classic blast furnace process.1.
The more sustainably the energy required for steel production and processing is generated, the "greener" the end product. We are working intensively to reduce our CO2 footprint in order to be able to supply you with "green steel".
Sustainability through quality
Steel is not a disposable item - the high quality of our stainless steels enables a long service life of the end product at the customer's premises and thus contributes to the sustainable use of our resources.
Sustainability through responsibility
Stainless steel only acquires its special properties such as corrosion or temperature resistance through the addition of alloying elements such as chromium, nickel or molybdenum. When purchasing the alloying elements we require, we refrain from using conflict minerals (Dodd-Frank Act).
In addition, all substances for which the BGH companies have a registration obligation comply with the currently valid REACH regulation or are RoHS-compliant.
1Hiebel, M,; Nühlen, J.: Technische, ökonomische , ökologische und gesellschaftliche Faktoren von Stahlschrott (Zukunft Stahlschrott), Fraunhofer-Insitut für Umwelt-, Sicherheits- und Energietechnick UMSICHT (Hrsg.), Onlinefassung der Kurzstudie im Auftrag der Bundesvereinigung Deutscher Stahlrecycling- und Entsorgungsunternehmen e.v. (BDSV), Oberhausen, November 2016
The trade in steel and foundry scrap, ferroalloys and metals as well as the sorting and processing of the various scrap qualities is handled by RPS Rohstoff-, Press- und Schneidbetrieb Siegen GmbH as a company of the BGH Group.
BGH climate targets and SBTi
BGH commits to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) in 2022
The Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) builds on the goals of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 °C. It provides a clearly defined pathway for companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It gives companies a clearly defined pathway to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, helping to prevent the worst impacts of climate change and safeguard business growth.
We have committed to setting science-based climate targets by 2022 and submitting them to the SBTI for validation.
Our CO2e-Footprint
Based on the Green House Gas (GHG) protocol, we have calculated our CO2 emissions according to Scope 1, 2 and 3. Scope 1 stands for direct emissions from production, while Scope 2 takes into account indirect emissions, e.g. from energy suppliers. Scope 3 considers the emissions from upstream and downstream value creation, e.g. through transport (and production of the purchased preliminary products and services as well as further processing of the products sold).
By calculating the Company Carbon Footprint (CCF), we have determined our status quo for the year 2021 (market-based approach):
- Scope 1 Emissions: 135 kt CO2e
- Scope 2 Emissions: 170 kt CO2e
- Scope 3 Emissions: 452 kt CO2e
Mandatory targets
We commit to reduce our Scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions by 42% by 2030 compared to the 2021 baseline.
We will reduce our Scope 3 emissions by 25% by 2030 compared to the 2021 baseline.
CO2-Reduction measures
Our steel as material for the energy transition
The energy transition without steel from the BGH? Hard to imagine!
Stainless steel is undoubtedly THE material for building wind power plants, turbines, generators and similar energy technology systems. This applies both to the construction of new plants for CO2-neutral energy generation and to the increase in efficiency of existing plants through modernisation.
High-quality steels with increasingly better properties are needed which are precisely matched to the subsequent application profile
We supply steels for the
- direct application in the end product: BGH steels are found, for example, in the impellers of hydroelectric power plants or pumps and fittings for processing biofuels or hydrogen.
- indirect application in the manufacturing process: BGH steels can be found in machines and tools used to manufacture energy transition products, e.g. in extruder screws for battery material production for electric cars.
Product Carbon Footprint
The CO2 footprint (Product Carbon Footprint) of our products can be calculated individually on customer request and provided broken down by Scope 1, 2 and 3.
Of course, we also adhere to the common international standards such as ISO 14067 and provide a detailed description of the calculation method in addition to the absolute values.
For further information, please contact your responsible BGH contact person.
