Undoubtedly, it is impossible to spot an object around the room that does not contain a trace of steel– the bed, air conditioner, refrigerator, or chair to name a few. Steel is omnipresent in our lives, even away from the city and in summer vacation scenes. The truth is steel’s eco-friendly properties have primarily granted such boundless currency. Taking a closer look through common occasions of encountering steel will reveal its predominance and its worth for both humankind and the environment.

Recycling Reaches the Dining Table

The smell of baby back ribs and sausages rises from outdoor grills in the backyard of a home. It is the scent of summer barbeque party in a family home with some invited guests and neighbors enjoying the wait to feast. The man of the house thoroughly cooks the meat and veggies on the grill. On the outdoor dining table, there are plenty of canned food servings such as corn, green peas, baked beans, and even fruit to serve along with the grilled foods. As soon as the grilled meat and skewers are ready, the adults at the table open bottles of beer to celebrate the holiday season.

It is a common yet easily overlooked fact that most canned foods, jar lids, bottle caps we store our foods and beverages in are made from stainless steel. And not to mention the high-quality steel used to make the barbecue grills, an essential summer household item. Even the daily utensils like forks, knives, and spoons we use to cook and eat with are steel-made. Basically, these are ubiquitous yet necessary tools for us to last or even survive a normal day.

Once used and discarded, the steel scraps are easily removed from waste streams due to steel’s magnetic property. This convenience for reuse is the foremost process where steel’s recyclable quality takes effect. These steel scraps are then processed by melting and molding to serve its next purpose. It’s worth noting even after countless recycling, the corrosion-resistant durability of steel enables reuse time and again without downgrading, disguised as brand new to any consumer walking through the supermarket aisle.

Another arresting evidence is that steel is an environmentally beneficial resource by two measures: the conservation of resources that are depleting rapidly and prevention of pollution caused by by-products during the process of manufacturing new steel. Could there be a more optimal resource making least impact on the environment?

Steel is almost 100% recyclable and 86% of the commercial steel products are in fact recycled. Thereby food cans and jar lids frequenting the supermarket have indeed been recycled previous to reaching its shelves, earning the privilege to be called ‘friendly’ as in eco-friendly. Yes, this even includes the beer bottle caps and outdoor grills in that barbecue party scene.

Upcycling, Discarded Steel Reborn a Notch Greener

Are metal scraps only valid for use if they are re-manufactured through recycling? Recent trend reveals brand new transformations of existing products without undergoing the industrial hassle of melting and remolding in quite novel and exciting ways. The environmental effect of upcycling stretches beyond recycling as it leaves out carbon footprint altogether. And then adding elements to its original form serving either a practical or an artistic purpose increases its value significantly. 

Human sculptures made from welding thousands of used bicycle chains (Source: inhabitat)

After returning from vacation destinations, people may spend the remaining time taking care of daily chores and some shopping before busy life creeps back in. Shoppers are increasingly spending their earnings in ways that affect the environment. These contributions are the foundation for societies, institutions, and businesses alike to raise awareness of environmental issues.

A noticeable instance of such a business is a company that tackles an environmental waste issue through creating unique furniture from used steel-made oil barrels. Instead of leaving unwanted traces of waste to the environment or using extra energy to recycle, the company imbues new purpose and meaning to the barrels by designing and adding color from its original shape.

Empty oil barrels upcycled into uniquely designed furniture (Source: upcycleDZINE)

With such innovative twist, steel can be reborn without being melted and remolded. The artists who foresee the hidden functionality of old or broken steel products play a significant role in bringing forth such changes in consumer culture. An inventive idea and willingness can open doors to businesses and promote an eco-friendly economy.

Nothing Beats a Staycation

Yet there are those who would rather be cooped up at home than travel to faraway destinations. Especially if the region suffers from extreme heatwave. Steel can alleviate such pressure to always travel far out by transforming a home into a vacation spot itself.

Wood was commonly used as construction material for houses in the past. However, it was heavily influenced by its environment, easily worn out and decayed causing owners to undergo frequent maintenance. This was certainly not ideal in terms of convenience and economy.

But the advent of steel changed everything. As steel does not absorb moisture, many construction and maintenance difficulties were resolved. Its excellent durability implied safe and ideal living conditions without the squabble over constant house repairs. In the construction process, steel is easily manufactured to use as material, reducing construction time, labor costs, and noise pollution on site.

In particular, POSCO has been carrying forth its renown ‘Steel Village’ project. Its highly durable steel used as construction material was developed a while back to withstand catastrophic natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, and typhoons– thanks to the application of its high-tech steel technology “PosMAC”. The Steel Village, also acknowledged as one of POSCO’s social contribution activity, has already successfully constructed homes in poor residential areas of Vietnam, Myanmar, and Thailand.

In overall cases steel is effective for home insulation, thus reducing costs for the usage of heating and cooling system. To such a degree, steel is valuable not only in terms of safety but also for the economy.

Steel has permeated our everyday lives from the mundane to the eventful. These indications reveal that its reason is by the virtue of steel’s eco-friendly nature. Or else steel would not be prevalent in the houses we sleep in, the arts we admire, or the grocery stores we frequent. Further analytical description of steel’s eco-friendly nature can be found below:

POSCO’s Steel Village project was tabbed by UN as an exceptional illustration of social contribution activity that shifts the paradigm of corporate social responsibility in the global landscape. This is not UN’s first-time recognition of POSCO’s concerted efforts to reform poor residential areas around the world by applying POSCO’s unique sustainable resources combined with advanced techniques. This Steel Village initiative had been previously registered on the UN’s SDG website as ideal and was selected in April as an eminent example by UN during its 50th conference of the UN Population Development Division.

POSCO Steel Village is recognized by the United Nations as an outstanding corporate social responsibility (CSR) project at the UN High-level Political Forum hosted by Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On July 18, POSCO introduced its Steel Village project to 193 member countries of the UN, as an implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) at the United Nations High-level Political Forum event hosted by Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The SDG, also known as “2030 Agenda,” is a collection of 17 international goals established by the UN in 2015 to address social and economic issues worldwide while achieving the prosperous coexistence of humanity by the year 2030.

The Steel Village Project is one of POSCO’s leading global social contribution activities adopting POSCO’s steel and construction methods to create residential buildings and bridges for the underprivileged. Since 2014, POSCO has built 104 steel houses and steel bridges in Vietnam’s poor residential areas. And this year, a steel dome was constructed and donated to a Thai school where students can enjoy sports activities on bad weather days.

The host of this event, South Korean Ambassador to the UN, Tae-yul Cho commented, “The POSCO Steel Village is an authentic representation of CSR activity in the private sector that will shift the perception of developing countries and the global community of CSR activities. Accordingly, a call for active promotion is essential.”

POSCO’s head of external relations Jeong-sik Kwak also added, “It is an honor to share stories to inspire developing countries worldwide with POSCO’s aptitude for creating infinite possibilities despite scarcity of resources.”

For global companies it is often not easy to build successful CSR programs overseas due to differences in cultures, customs, and laws. However, the POSCO Group is working to form strong relationships with local communities near its offices and plants by being attentive to the local issues and actively working to find solutions together with the communities.

POSCO Vietnam helps improve homes with the POSCO Steel Village

Since 2009, POSCO Vietnam has been working to understand the needs of the local communities near its plant. By combining the needs of the community with the capabilities of POSCO and its group companies, POSCO was able to improve local housing through its POSCO Steel Village, POSCO Steel Bridge, and POSCO Steel Playground initiatives.

On November 30, 2016, POSCO Vietnam received the Excellent CSR Prize, the most prestigious prize from the Korean Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy at the 6th Korea-Vietnam CSR Awards in 2016. The award ceremony was held at the KOTRA Hanoi Office on December 28.

In particular, because POSCO Vietnam handles various licenses and permits for steel bridge construction, they formed a volunteer group with members from various POSCO partners. POSCO A&C participated in the design, SS-VINA supplied section steel products, and POSCO E&C processed and built the bridge.

The POSCO Steel Bridge project is seen as a model CSR activity by the local communities and the Vietnamese government. As a result, POSCO Vietnam was awarded with the Excellence in CSR designation, the most prestigious award from the Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy at the 6th Korea-Vietnam CSR Awards on December 28, 2016.

POSCO Steel Village (left) will contain 104 households and is slated for completion in April 2017. The POSCO Steel Bridge in Vietnam (right) was completed in January 2016.

POSCO partners with local schools in Myanmar

In Myanmar, POSCO has been working to provide resources to local schools. Since 2014, POSCO E&C formed sisterhood ties with nearby secondary schools and signed an agreement to work with the National University of Arts and Culture in Yangon. POSCO E&C has donated educational materials and equipment, repaired educational facilities, organized cultural exchange activities, and built rainwater storage & drinking water facilities. More recently, POSCO has been leading the way in making improvements to the safety of Yowa Village. By partnering with POSCO’s 1% Sharing Foundation, they were able to build a bridge in the village with POSCO steel.

For these efforts, Myanmar-POSCO E&C recognized for its contributions to Myanmar’s local communities in the 2016 Myanmar Excellent CSR Company Awards that were held in Yangon, Myanmar in December 13, 2016.

Hyun-ik Choi (right), head of POSCO E&C Myanmar, receives the Prize of the Minister of Strategy and Finance of Myanmar from U Aung Naing Oo, Director General of DICA and General Secretary of MIC. The 2016 Myanmar Excellent CSR Company Awards took place at the Sedona Hotel in Yangon, Myanmar, on December 13.

POSCO Krakatau gives back to Indonesia

In Indonesia, the Krakatau POSCO Social Enterprise (KPSE) has been working to support secondary education, create jobs at the steel mill, and return profits to the local communities in Cilegon, Indonesia, where the steel mill is located.

KPSE, co-founded by the POSCO 1% Sharing Foundation and KOICA, was awarded for its efforts at the ‘2016 Korea-Indonesia CSR Forum and Awards Ceremony’ that was hosted by the Korean Embassy in Indonesia and KOTRA on December 15, 2016.

KPSE manager and acting CEO Jang-gon Jeon (2nd from the left) and Andi Soko, officer of personnel management and general affairs at PT.KP (2nd from the right) stand with KPSE employees after receiving the Prize of the Director of the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board. The awards ceremony took place at the ‘2016 Korea-Indonesia CSR Forum’ held at the Shangri-La Hotel in Indonesia.

POSCO Group’s overseas subsidiaries have been recognized for their broad contributions in CSR. POSCO Group will continue to promote win-win growth in partnership with local communities at home and abroad based on the Group’s unique values that recognize the overseas market as a partner and not as a business target.

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