Nucor is North America’s largest steel manufacturer and recycler, offering a breadth of steel products and specializing in low-embodied carbon EAF steel products and capabilities that drive the circular economy. Nucor and its subsidiaries operate a network of over three hundred facilities.

Electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking is a recycling-based process that uses electricity to melt scrap and other inputs into new, high-quality steel. The circular steelmaking process is significantly less emissions-intensive and more sustainable than the integrated steelmaking process. Read about EAF steelmaking in the Circularity in Steel series.

Nucor manufactures all steel products in North America, and is the largest manufacturer and recycler of domestic, sustainable steel on the continent.

Green steel is a term that broadly refers to steel that is made in a more sustainable way and with fewer resulting emissions. However, there is no universal definition within the industry for what green steel is. Nucor defines “green steel” as low-embodied carbon steel, so a product with low-embodied carbon was produced with lower production-stage carbon emissions than other comparable products. Learn more: Defining and Understanding Sustainable Steel.

Steel production primarily occurs via two methods: blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) and electric arc furnace (EAF). These methods result in notably different greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the steel they produce. The circular EAF process recycles scrap as its main iron source, keeping more carbon-intensive materials in the ground, which conserves natural resources and reduces emissions from mining and furnace operations. Switching to electricity (preferably from renewable or low-carbon sources) rather than coal significantly lowers emissions. When combined with high scrap usage, this approach drastically cuts the carbon footprint. For example, Nucor’s circular EAF technology emits only 0.77 tons of CO₂ per ton of steel, less than one-third the GHG emissions of BF-BOF steelmaking. Learn more about two ways to make steel. 

Nucor is one of the first diversified steel makers in North America with net zero, science-based greenhouse gas targets for 2050, which includes Scopes 1, 2 & 3. 

Nucor is an industry leader in GHG transparency due to ongoing third-party verified reporting. The company is committed to transparency in the plans and the actions needed to achieve its sustainability goals through annual corporate sustainability reports, environmental product declarations and more.

Scopes 1, 2, and 3 refer to different types of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Steel manufacturers track direct emissions from their steelmaking processes (Scope 1), indirect emissions from purchased electricity (Scope 2), and emissions from their entire value chain, both upstream and downstream (Scope 3). Nucor is committed to reducing these emissions, with net-zero goals set for 2050 and interim targets for 2030.

ESG stands for environmental, social and governance, which is a framework used to evaluate a company’s sustainability, ethics and social impact. It helps organizations make informed decisions, leading to long-term investor returns.

Yes, Nucor ensures that its sustainability documentation is verified through the Global Steel Climate Council (GSCC) and Type III third-party verified environmental product declarations (EPDs) to deliver transparent information to partners and customers.

An environmental product declaration (EPD) is a document that provides transparent information about a product’s environmental impact throughout its lifecycle. An EPD is like a nutrition label, outlining a product’s impact on the environment — it requires one year of production data to be used within a life-cycle assessment (LCA), ultimately creating the product’s environmental impacts in six categories. EPDs are based on international standards and product-specific guidance to ensure consistent and transparent environmental data based on a framework that makes it possible for readers to understand the results in the report

EPDs provide data-driven, standardized information about the environmental impacts of materials. By utilizing Type III EPDs, industry professionals can make informed decisions that align with sustainability goals and regulatory requirements. This will ensure that projects meet requirements and allow professionals to select options that meet performance criteria and contribute to a more sustainable built environment. 

Nucor purchases and recycles ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metal, which refers to discarded metal materials that can be collected, processed and recycled into new products. It comes from a few primary sources that contribute to a sustainable material supply chain, including post-consumer scrap (vehicles, household appliances, etc.), post-industrial scrap (excess manufacturing materials) and demolition scrap (end-of-life buildings or bridges). 

Nucor’s steel products contain approximately 77% recycled content on average, with some products containing 99% recycled content. 

Steel is unique among materials because it is one of the few that can be recycled and reused repeatedly without any loss of quality. This inherent recyclability makes steel an essential part of the circular economy, where materials stay in use for as long as possible to minimize waste and environmental impact. End-of-life steel products can be melted down and manufactured into new steel products. 

Yes, Nucor’s subsidiary DJJ operates a network of 70 scrap recycling facilities across the U.S., including 19 automobile shredders. If you are interested in selling scrap metal, find a location near you. 

Nucor promotes a circular economy through EAF technology, recycling and resource efficiency. They use recycled materials and closed-loop recycling throughout the EAF steelmaking process and develop ongoing partnerships and technologies to reduce environmental impact. By focusing on recycling and sustainable practices, Nucor helps build a more circular, sustainable steel industry. 

We invest in clean energy sources including fusion, fission and renewables, as well as innovative technologies to lessen the carbon footprint of our raw materials.

Yes, Nucor’s sustainable steel innovations enable companies to meet low-embodied carbon and sustainability requirements, support compliance with growing environmental regulations and contribute to certifications and LEED credits, giving companies a competitive edge in meeting sustainability goals. 

Nucor’s Econiq™ Net-Zero Carbon Steel is the world’s first scalable, certified low-embodied carbon steel. Introduced by Nucor to help customers reach sustainability goals, it achieves net-zero emissions by using 100% renewable electricity, purchasing carbon offsets and employing electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking. The Econiq certification can be applied to all of Nucor’s steel and fabricated steel products – the most comprehensive in the U.S. market.