Steel recycler beats wind firm to become world's most sustainable company

Radius Recycling

18/01/2023 06:00

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      Schnitzer Steel named most sustainable firm - Corporate
Knights 
    

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      Global execs are debating sustainability agenda in Davos
    

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      The global 100 Index has outperformed MSCI equity index
    

  
    By Virginia Furness and Simon Jessop
       LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - As boardroom bosses and
billionaires mingle in the snowy streets of Davos, corporate
sustainability is a key topic of discussion. Yet which company
is the world's most sustainable? 
    Rather surprisingly, research firm Corporate Knights says
the answer is Schnitzer Steel Industries  SCHN.O , a U.S. scrap
steel recycler, which has knocked wind turbine maker Vestas Wind
off the top spot.
    Portland, Oregon-based Schnitzer Steel reported improvements
in energy, carbon, water and waste productivity in 2021 to lead
the 2023 Global 100, a list of companies which Corporate Knights
deems to do the most good for people and planet.
    "Schnitzer Steel is the first steel company to top the
Global 100," said Corporate Knights CEO Toby Heaps. 
    "If one of the world's dirtiest sectors can produce the most
sustainable company in the world, then there is no excuse for
any company in any sector not to step up."
    Companies are assessed on 25 indicators including
sustainable revenue and investment, carbon productivity, racial
and gender diversity and must have sustainable solutions at the
heart of their business models and invest to reduce their carbon
footprint. 
    Schnitzer Steel bagged the top spot with a 74% increase in
energy productivity, 69% increase in water productivity and 55%
increase in carbon productivity in 2021 - with productivity
meaning using more efficiently when measured against revenue. It
also reported 100% of its $2.8 billion revenues and all of its
$0.1 billion investment went to sustainable projects in 2021,
though the report did not detail the projects.
    Schnitzer Steel did not respond to a request for comment. 
    Corporate Knights' Global 100 is used by the likes of
Goldman Sachs to construct private wealth portfolios and will
serve as the benchmark for a new index fund and exchange traded
fund from Canada's Mackenzie Investments this year. 
    Though the index does not factor profitability, the
benchmark has outperformed the MSCI All Country World Index
(ACWI) on an annual basis for seven of the past 11 years. 
    In 2022, the Global 100 beat the ACWI on an annual returns
basis by 2.8% though both were significantly down on 2021 at
-15.6% and -18.4% respectively. Between 2013 and 2022, the
Global 100 returned 145.1% compared to 115.4% for the MSCI ACWI.
    "The sustainability outperformance story is resilient even
in a period of oil stock inflation," said Heaps.
    Advocates of sustainable investing say that picking
companies with better environmental, social and governance (ESG)
 scores can deliver higher returns. But the strategy has faced
pushback from U.S. politicians and policymakers who claim
ESG-investing runs counter to fiduciary duty. 
    Second-placed Vestas' head of sustainability Lisa Ekstrand
said the ranking was valuable for comparing companies in
different industries on the same transparent scale, which is
"notoriously difficult."
    Vestas uses the ranking to identify improvement areas, she
said. 
    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
World's most sustainable companies outperform World's most
sustainable companies outperform    https://tmsnrt.rs/3w5bYOa
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 (Reporting by Virginia Furness and Simon Jessop
Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes and Josie Kao)
 ((Virginia.Furness@thomsonreuters.com; +44207 542 5477;))