Emmenbrücke, March 14, 2025 - Swiss Steel Group, a leading global supplier of special long steel, has been awarded the gold medal by EcoVadis, the renowned platform for sustainability assessments of global supply chains. This is a significant improvement on last year's silver medal and underlines the company's consistent commitment to environmentally friendly production, social responsibility and ethical business management.

With this award, Swiss Steel Group ranks among the top 5% of all companies assessed by EcoVadis worldwide and is among the top 2% in the iron and steel industry. This is the best result Swiss Steel Group has ever achieved in this internationally recognized sustainability rating.

Sustainability as a core strategy: focus on green steel

As one of the leading special steel manufacturers in Europe, Swiss Steel Group pursues a clear sustainability strategy. The company produces exclusively using the electric arc furnace (EAF) route, which has a carbon footprint that is up to 81% lower than the conventional blast furnace route. The use of recycled steel scrap as a raw material and the increased use of renewable energies makes a significant contribution to reducing emissions.

With the development and supply of Green Steel, Swiss Steel Group offers a CO₂-reduced alternative for customers in the automotive, aviation, mechanical engineering and energy industries. These sustainably produced steels enable the entire value chain to significantly reduce its ecological footprint.

Frank Koch, CEO of Swiss Steel Group, sees the renewed award from EcoVadis as clear proof of the company's pioneering role:

"This gold medal is not only a recognition of our continuous sustainability efforts, but also a strong signal to our customers and the entire steel industry. Our aim is to actively shape the transition towards a sustainable future through environmentally friendly production processes and innovative materials. This EcoVadis assessment confirms our strategy and motivates us to consistently continue on this path."

With this award, the decision was also made to carry out future sustainability assessments at Group level instead of evaluating individual sites separately. This enables even more targeted management of sustainability measures across all production sites.

EcoVadis: benchmark for sustainable corporate governance

EcoVadis is one of the world's leading platforms for assessing the environmental, social and ethical performance of companies. More than 125,000 companies from 200 industries and over 180 countries have undergone the standardized assessment process.

The evaluation criteria cover four central areas:

1. Environmental management - measures to reduce emissions, energy consumption and resource conservation.
2. Labor and human rights - protection of employee rights, diversity and inclusion, occupational safety.
3. Ethical business practices - anti-corruption, fair business practices, data protection.
4. Sustainable procurement - consideration of social and ecological criteria along the supply chain.

The rigorous assessment process is based on international standards such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the UN Global Compact and ISO 26000. The companies are assessed based on detailed data analyses and external audits and classified in four categories (bronze, silver, gold, platinum).

The gold medal confirms Swiss Steel Group's consistent implementation of sustainable measures and its leading role in the transformation of the steel industry.

Future prospects: Sustainability as a competitive factor

Swiss Steel Group plans to further intensify its sustainability strategy and expand its Green Steel initiatives. This includes not only the reduction of CO₂ emissions, but also the further development of circular economy approaches and the implementation of innovative technologies for environmentally friendly steel production.

The EcoVadis gold medal underlines the fact that sustainable business practices are not only ecologically necessary, but also economically advantageous. Customers and partners of Swiss Steel Group benefit from a transparent and sustainable supply chain that meets the highest environmental and social standards.

For further information:
 

Swiss Steel Group - Sustainability & Green Steel:

Contact for press inquiries:

Helmut Freiherr von Fircks
Communications  

Anina Berger  
Vice President Corporate Marketing and Communications
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About Swiss Steel Group
Swiss Steel Group with headquarters in Lucerne (Switzerland) is one of the world’s leading producers of special steel long prod-ucts. Thanks to the exclusive use of steel scrap in electric arc furnaces, the Group is one of the most relevant companies in Europe in the circular economy and is among the market leaders in the field of sustainably produced steel - Green Steel. Swiss Steel Group has its own production and distribution entities in over 30 countries and, through its strong local presence, offers a wide range of individual solutions in the fields of engineering steel, stainless steel, and tool steel. Swiss Steel Group is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and generated a revenue of over EUR 4 billion in 2022 with approximately 10,000 employees.