Sustainability

Sustainability Strategy

Sustainability is a key strategic focus for our organisation and integrated in our business strategy. Steel & Tube is well positioned to respond to a low emission future and is supportive of New Zealand’s net-zero ambitions by 2050.

Our goal is clear: to maximise steel’s contribution to a sustainable and low emissions society, whilst continuing to grow our business and deliver value to our shareholders. During FY23, we have completed our first climate risk assessment, conducted a full materiality assessment and deployed an emissions tracking software to ensure we can track and report our emissions profile. In late 2022, Steel & Tube became a member of the Sustainable Business Council, strengthening our commitment to reducing our environmental impact through proactive collaboration with our peers.

We are mindful that a transition to a low-emissions economy brings both opportunities and risks to Steel & Tube. As one of New Zealand’s largest steel distributors and manufacturers, climate change has the potential to have a transformative impact on the way we do business. This is why we have committed to engaging with policymakers on climate change legislation over the last two years, and will continue to do so in the future. With the help of Deloitte, our work in the current year to identify key climate risks and opportunities has set the foundation for a robust climate change strategy which will continue to develop over the coming years.

Committed to Health, Safety, Quality and Environment

Material Topics:

Health & Safety
Climate change emissions and evironment
Product life cycle and circularity

Historically low employee TRIFR, maintained for second year in a row 1
Achieved ISO 45001 International Standard for Occupational Safety and Health
Achieved ISO 14001 International Standard for Environmental Management Systems
8.8 out of 10 employee rating on Steel & Tube’s commitment to providing a safe work environment
Continued training in best practice crane and forklift operation
Well progressed towards mandatory climate related disclosures reporting regime with voluntary disclosure in FY23
Trialling electric vehicles as part of Steel & Tube’s fleet
Improvements in recycling and waste reduction

Recycled 124 tonnes of material destined for landfill and 2,723 tonnes of scrap steel
Completed replacement of all lightbulbs at operating sites with LEDS, delivering a 13.1% reduction in power consumption across participating sites
We have partnered with Meridian who generate 100% of their electricity from renewable sources
Conscious integration of social, ethical and environmental performance factors into the process of selecting suppliers
Helping customers understand the carbon embodied in their steel purchases
Including sustainability as a key factor in supply chain decisions
B+ score in Forsyth Barr's Inaugural Carbon & ESG Ratings

ESG Profile

“We have partnered with ESG World to generate a real-time cross-section of our business practices across all Environmental, Social and Governance factors. Our long-term aim is to operate our business in a way that is financially rewarding for our shareholders and positive for our people, our customers and our planet. Adopting ESG World will ensure that our stakeholders can easily and objectively review our sustainability performance.”

If this page is having trouble loading, click on this link to open ESG World in a new tab

Materiality Assessment

In 2023, Steel & Tube conducted its first materiality assessment in order to align our sustainability strategy with our key stakeholders. We conducted 18 interviews across a broad array of stakeholders, including customers, investors, analysts, employees and suppliers. These comments were reviewed internally to produce a comprehensive list of stakeholder-aligned material topics. Steel & Tube's material topics sit within our focus areas and are summarised on pages 28-30 on our annual report. Each material topic is measured by several performance KPIs that Steel & Tube use to track our progress, which are subsequently reported to the Board on a quarterly basis.

A WINNING TEAM AND POSITIVE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT	CREATING A SUCCESSFUL AND RESILIENT BUSINESS	CUSTOMER FIRST	COMMITTED TO HEALTH, SAFETY, QUALITY AND ENVIRONMENT
Human Capital Management	Financial Performance	Customer Satisfaction and Service	Health & Safety
Culture and Wellbeing	Corporate Governance		Climate Change, Emissions and Environment
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion	Digital Innovation		Product Life Cycle and Circularity
Community Engagement	Resilient Supply Chains

Climate-related Disclosures

As a climate reporting entity under the Financial Sector (Climate-related Disclosures and Other Matters) Amendment Act 2021, Steel & Tube will regularly report on the way in which climate change is managed in the organisation. Developed by the External Reporting Board, Climate-related Disclosures is based on the TCFD1 framework, which span across four key climate pillars: governance, risk management, strategy and metrics & targets. Although these disclosures are not mandatory until our FY24 reporting, we recognise the benefit of understanding the impact of climate change on our business and have made a number of disclosures in FY23. The following table outlines the highlights achieved during FY23, categorised by TCFD pillar.

Pillar	FY23 Highlights
Governance	- The board has oversight of climate related opportunities and risks - Management has been assigned responsibility in managing climate change, including the role of the Group Sustainability Manager in preparing climate-related disclosures - The company’s Sustainability Policy has been updated to reflect evolving stakeholder feedback and legislative changes
Strategy	- Steel & Tube has completed a review to understand its current climate-related impacts experienced in FY23 - Steel & Tube has completed its first climate risk assessment, identifying climate opportunities and risks over the short, medium and long term. This includes an understanding of the associated impacts of these opportunities and risks - The company has also outlined the scenario analysis it has undertaken, and started to integrate climate opportunities and risks into its overall business strategy
Risk Management	- Steel & Tube has developed a process for identifying, assessing and managing climate-related risks, including how it intends to engage with stakeholders for this assessment
Metrics & Targets	- Steel & Tube has deployed an emissions tracking system to manage its Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions - Scope 3 emissions have been expanded to include transportation and distribution, and upstream energy production. The calculation methodology has been improved to reflect best practice in New Zealand - The company has conducted a review of its GHG (Greenhouse Gas) organisational boundary with the help of an independent third-party - Sustainability metrics and targets are reported to the board on a quarterly basis