Sustainable Steel - EcoSheetPile™ Plus

Sustainable solutions to reduce the environmental impact of your projects

Decarbonisation is the most important aspect of ArcelorMittal’s long-term strategy. We align with the Paris Agreement’s goals and the European Green Deal. We committed in 2021 to reduce European CO2 emissions by 35 % by 2030 and be carbon neutral by 2050. Our new brand, XCarb^® is designed to bring together all of ArcelorMittal’s reduced, low and zero-carbon products and steelmaking activities.

For long, ArcelorMittal EcoSheetPile™ range of steel sheet piles have been manufactured through the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) route, with relatively low CO₂ emissions, compared to the average emissions for the global steel industry which is around 2.3 tonnes of CO₂ per tonne of primary steel produced*. The Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) of the EcoSheetPile™ product range is based on a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) with the EAF route using 100 % recycled material. It is available on request.


The new EcoSheetPile™ Plus brand, an essential part of the XCarb™ recycled and renewably produced initiative, is based on the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) route using 100% recycled material and in addition using 100% renewable electricity sourced from the same power grid. This allows the manufacturing of the new EcoSheetPile™ Plus with even lower emissions than with the usual energy mix. The difference is even higher when compared with the predominant conventional steelmaking, which emits around 2.3 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of primary steel produced*. Certified by a specific Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), the production of the EcoSheetPile™ Plus range emits as low as 409 kg CO2-eq. per tonne of steel produced. It comes also with a ‘Guarantee of Origin’ certifying the renewable sources for the electricity, audited by an external third party.

A key advantage of the steel sheet piles is their perfect integration into the circular economy concept, making them the most sustainable construction material. Indeed, the sheet piles we produce can be reused up to ten times before they are recycled as scrap for the EAF-based steel making process. In addition, fully engineered package solutions, relying on our high performance, tailor-made sheet pile sections, in combination with our high strength steel grades, could allow further carbon footprint reductions on project-based assessments.

Independent third-party infrastructure impact studies show that our EcoSheetPile™ designs can have the lowest environmental impact compared to other construction solutions. A full scope LCA study (cradle-to-grave) for underground car park applications shows an impressive gap of 88 % in greenhouse gas emissions between the EcoSheetPile™ solution and the closest alternative (Cutter Soil Mixing)**. The new EcoSheetPile™ Plus range brings even much better results.

ArcelorMittal's steel sheet piles are an environmentally-friendly construction product. Along with other European steel products, they are manufactured in facilities that report transparent indicators for their environmental performance, which have certified quality management systems and protect their working force through Health & Safety policies.

The environmental impact of ArcelorMittal's hot rolled steel sheet piles is documented in Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), currently registered at EPD International, Sweden. Find more details on the EPDs on our dedicated pages.

* https://www.sustainablefinance.hsbc.com/-/media/gbm/sustainable/attachments/4016-hsbc-csf-steel-report-2019v5.pdf
* https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/metals-and-mining/our-insights/decarbonization-challenge-for-steel# 
* https://www.worldsteel.org/en/dam/jcr:7ec64bc1-c51c-439b-84b8-94496686b8c6/Position_paper_climate_2020_vfinal.pdf
** ArcelorMittal’s SIMIn studies, jointly elaborated with external partners and our R&D teams, are available upon request.