Corporate Social Responsibility
At Sheffield Forgemasters, corporate responsibility is more than compliance, it’s about improving the environment around us, supporting our people, and reducing our impact at every level of the business. We focus on practical, measurable actions across energy, recycling, water use, and biodiversity, while continually investing in site improvements that benefit both our operations and the wider community.
Recycling
We’re working towards a target of 100% waste diversion from landfill and regularly achieve over 99.5%. Our steel production uses scrap material left over from other manufacturing processes, reducing reliance on raw materials.
Any remaining waste that can’t re-enter the supply chain is sent to specialist contractors, for example, steel slag is repurposed into road surfacing aggregate, and metal dust is sent for zinc recovery and reuse.
Energy
Our site receives renewable heat from the Sheffield District Heating Network, generated using food and wood biomass. This partnership helps us avoid around 10,000 MWh of gas use annually.
Alongside this, we’ve invested in a £2 million upgrade to our Electric Arc Furnace to improve efficiency, installed LED lighting across the site, and begun early-stage work on introducing solar panels to further reduce emissions and grid demand.
Water
Water conservation is embedded into daily site operations. By installing metering across the site, switching to recirculated cooling systems, and rolling out Ureco systems in all toilets, we’ve significantly reduced our demand on public water.
The Ureco system alone saves approximately 16 million litres of water each year. Though our reliance on the River Don has reduced over time, we continue to take full riparian responsibility for maintaining its riverbeds and banks alongside other local landowners.
Garden
Our on-site garden was created on the footprint of a former storage area to offer employees a green space for relaxation and to support local biodiversity.
It now provides a habitat for insects, animals and birds, and has been recognised with a Silver Award from Yorkshire in Bloom. Additional beds and planters around the site enhance the overall landscape, while creating small pockets of nature within an industrial setting.
Our Corporate Responsibilities
At Sheffield Forgemasters, our commitment to the local environment, energy efficiency and the wellbeing of our people, our most valuable asset, sits at the heart of everything we do.
We’re continually seeking new ways to enhance our business performance and effectiveness, whilst ensuring we provide a safe, positive working environment where our employees can thrive.