Johnson Controls launches a partnership with Nucor to recycle nearly 100% of scrap steel at major Johnson Controls facilities in the United States

Scrap steel

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  • Johnson Controls has launched a closed-loop steel recycling partnership program with Nucor in the US.
  • The program will salvage nearly 100% of secondary scrap steel at major Johnson Controls facilities in the US, amounting to thousands of tons per year, repurposing it as low-embodied-carbon steel.
  • Johnson Controls sources over 70% of steel in the US and 45% globally from recycled materials, as part of its program to reduce embodied carbon across its product portfolio.

MILWAUKEE, April 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI), a global leader for smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, today announced the launch of a program for recycling steel, through a collaboration with Nucor Corporation, the largest steel producer and recycler in North America.

Over 70% of Johnson Controls steel purchases in the US and 45% globally are manufactured from recycled scrap materials. The program with Nucor will recycle nearly 100% of that secondary scrap steel again, amounting to thousands of tons each year, at major Johnson Controls manufacturing sites in the US. Nucor will remelt the scrap steel using electric arc furnace (EAF) technology, which generates approximately 75% less emissions than traditional blast furnace manufacturing. The remelted steel will be sold back to Johnson Controls for use in manufacturing. This closed-loop recycling process is a highly efficient form of circularity that is especially well suited to metals like steel, which retain their robust material structures through multiple rounds of recycling and repurposing.

Johnson Controls is engaged globally to use our purchasing power to accelerate the adoption of near net zero steel, including being a founding member of the First Movers Coalition, an organization initiated by the US State Department and the World Economic Forum.

"With our smart building technology trifecta – energy-efficient equipment, clean electrification, and systemic digitalization – we have already reached the point of being able to help customers reduce building operational emissions to net zero," says Katie McGinty, Vice President and Chief Sustainability and External Affairs Officer at Johnson Controls. "However, embodied carbon emissions in hard-to-abate sectors like steel are much more challenging. We are unravelling the complexities of embodied carbon, by addressing the challenge from different angles: from low-carbon steel purchases to steel recycling, material recycling, and overall product footprint reduction. This partnership with Nucor will allow us to accelerate upstream decarbonization significantly through the further recycling of thousands of tons of steel every year. We are excited not only about the immediate resource and emissions reductions, but also about the long-term ripple effect this closed-loop recycling partnership will have for resource, energy and emissions savings."

"We are excited to work more closely with Johnson Controls and build on our longstanding relationship by developing this recycling program," said Noah Hanners, Executive Vice President of Raw Materials for Nucor Corporation. "Nucor pioneered the use of EAF technology in the late 1960s, and we are now one of the cleanest, most sustainable steel producers in the world. We formed Nucor Industrial Recycling to work with our steel customers to find new and better ways to return steel scrap directly from manufacturing facilities to our steel mills for re-melting to make new steel products. This closed-loop recycling program is a great example of how we work with our customers to improve resource efficiency in the steel supply chain."

Johnson Controls Recognition for ESG & Sustainability:

To read more about Johnson Controls commitment to sustainability, please visit: https://www.johnsoncontrols.com/corporate-sustainability/environment.

Investor Contact:
Jim Lucas
Direct: +1 651 391 3182
Email: jim.lucas@jci.com

Media Contact:
Olivia Coker-Decker
Direct: +41 79 672 10 53
Email: olivia.cokerdecker@jci.com

About Nucor

Nucor and its affiliates are manufacturers of steel and steel products, with operating facilities in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Products produced include: carbon and alloy steel -- in bars, beams, sheet and plate; hollow structural section tubing; electrical conduit; steel racking; steel piling; steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; fabricated concrete reinforcing steel; cold finished steel; precision castings; steel fasteners; metal building systems; insulated metal panels; overhead doors; steel grating; and wire and wire mesh. Nucor, through The David J. Joseph Company and its affiliates, also brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron and hot briquetted iron / direct reduced iron; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap. Nucor is North America's largest recycler.

About Johnson Controls

At Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI), we transform the environments where people live, work, learn and play. As the global leader in smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, our mission is to reimagine the performance of buildings to serve people, places and the planet.

Building on a proud history of nearly 140 years of innovation, we deliver the blueprint of the future for industries such as healthcare, schools, data centers, airports, stadiums, manufacturing and beyond through OpenBlue, our comprehensive digital offering.

Today, with a global team of 100,000 experts in more than 150 countries, Johnson Controls offers the world's largest portfolio of building technology and software as well as service solutions from some of the most trusted names in the industry.

Visit www.johnsoncontrols.com for more information and follow @Johnson Controls on social platforms.

Johnson Controls Logo. (PRNewsFoto/JOHNSON CONTROLS, INC.) (PRNewsFoto/)

SOURCE Johnson Controls International plc

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