Stainless steel producer Aperam’s Stainless Europe operations in September were successfully certified to be operating at the ResponsibleSteel Standard by independent auditors the Association Française de Normalisation (AFNOR).

The ResponsibleSteel initiative is the first global sustainability certification programme for the steel sector, and its certification follows a stringent audit of Aperam’s practices.

“Aperam becoming the first stainless steel player to be certified under the ResponsibleSteel Standard is a reassurance to our stakeholders that we produce responsibly. With Aperam, our customers have selected a partner of choice, offering them responsibly produced solutions that are also 100% recyclable and low carbon – solutions that are much needed for the sustainable society we strive to live in,” enthuses Aperam CEO Timoteo Di Maulo.

“At Aperam, we are convinced that true business success can only come together with social and environmental sustainability and we will pursue our strategy to further embed sustainability within all our processes. Aperam is proud to be the frontrunner of its industry in the field of corporate responsibility and we are delighted that all our teams’ efforts on sustainability and responsibility, already evidenced by our state-of-the-art carbon dioxide footprint, are now fully recognised with an all-encompassing third-party certification of our processes at Stainless Europe.”

The ResponsibleSteel Standard, which was co-designed by business partners and non-governmental organisations with the aim of promoting steel as a responsible material of choice, contains 12 principles with more than 200 requirements that set the benchmark for responsible steel production.

The audit of Aperam’s facilities, which took place in June and included Aperam’s Châtelet, Genk, Gueugnon, Isbergues and Saint-Denis sites in Belgium and France, examined a number of sustainability topics.

These include governance and ethics, health and safety and other labour and human rights; climate change, greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity; water stewardship and other environmental impacts; stakeholder engagement and local community relations.

In accordance with the standard process, Aperam’s sites were screened based on written documentation, and underwent on site audits by third-party auditors from AFNOR certification. The analysis was completed by more than 40 exchanges with our external stakeholders, including officials, neighbours, associations, subcontractors, employees and unions.

An independent assurance panel reviewed the final audit report and agreed with the audit team’s conclusion that Aperam meets the ResponsibleSteel criteria.