POSCO Wins 'Sustainable Management' Award at World Steel Association's Steelie Awards

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] POSCO was selected as the Best Company in the 'Sustainability' category at the 11th Steelie Awards hosted by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) on the 14th.

The Steelie Awards are given to steel companies and journalists who have made significant contributions to the development of the steel industry over the year in seven categories including sustainability management, innovation of the year, life cycle assessment (LCA), and education/training, based on evaluations by internal and external experts. This year, due to COVID-19, the award winners were announced through an online video.

The final nominees for the 'Sustainability' category included POSCO, Brazil's Gerdau, USIMINAS, Japan's JFE Steel, Russia's Novolipetsk Steel, and Mexico's Ternium. POSCO was selected as the final winner for its marine forest creation activities that contribute to marine ecosystem restoration and blue carbon sequestration using Triton artificial reefs made from steelmaking slag.

POSCO won the 'Sustainability' award for the second time since 2010 and has previously received the 'Innovation of the Year' award four times in 2012, 2015, 2017, and 2019.

POSCO's marine forest creation project is one of the six representative projects of Corporate Citizenship. It involves installing 'Triton artificial reefs' developed using slag, a byproduct from the steelmaking process, in seas severely affected by seaweed bed degradation, transforming them into marine forests rich in seaweed.

The main material of the Triton artificial reefs, slag, contains higher mineral contents such as iron (Fe) and calcium (Ca) compared to general aggregates, which effectively promotes seaweed growth. Its high density and high strength characteristics also reduce the risk of damage from typhoons or tsunamis when installed underwater.

Meanwhile, POSCO, together with RIST, a research institute under the group, developed the Triton artificial reef made from steel slag, a byproduct generated during steel manufacturing, in 2000. To date, POSCO has provided a total of 7,654 units of Triton steel slag artificial reefs free of charge to over 30 marine forests in Korea.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.