Hyundai Steel Obtains EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) Certification for Sheet Products Including Automotive Steel Plates

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] Hyundai Steel announced on the 26th that it has recently obtained EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) certification for plate products such as hot-rolled steel sheets, cold-rolled steel sheets, coated steel sheets, and thick plates.

With this, Hyundai Steel has completed EPD certification for blast furnace products following last year's certification by the US UL (Underwriters Laboratories) for electric furnace product groups such as rebar and shaped steel.

In particular, the certification obtained this time was issued by the internationally renowned Swedish International EPD, which is evaluated to have established a foundation to effectively respond to exports to the European market, where environmental regulations are strict.

EPD quantitatively displays and discloses the environmental impact of the entire process from raw material extraction, production, transportation, distribution, use, to disposal of products and services, serving as an indicator that allows consumers to compare and choose environmentally friendly products.

Regarding this certification, Hyundai Steel stated that it reflected the latest standards by calculating contributions to greenhouse gases from recycling steel materials, which are not yet introduced in domestic standards, as well as the effects of utilizing by-products generated in the steelmaking process.

Additionally, Hyundai Steel established an integrated LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) system for major plants in Dangjin, Incheon, Pohang, and Suncheon during the process of pursuing EPD certification for electric furnace and blast furnace products.

This integrated system is designed to automatically aggregate, analyze, and evaluate the substances input and generated throughout the entire production process to calculate environmental impacts, and it is expected to greatly contribute to improving the environmental performance of products in the future.

Recently, in the global trade market, as trends such as the EU's 'Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism' and California's 'Clean Procurement Act' in the US increasingly use product environmental performance as import regulations, environmental certifications meeting these standards have become essential elements for securing competitiveness.

A Hyundai Steel official said, “As a socially responsible company that considers environmental impacts in product manufacturing, we will strengthen our sense of responsibility and continuously pursue efforts to develop eco-friendly products,” adding, “We expect that obtaining this certification will also help enhance the global competitiveness of products such as automotive steel sheets and thick plates for shipbuilding.”