Close your eyes and imagine a traditional steel mill. What do you see? Smoke. Dirt. Pollution. Would you call us crazy if we told you that Big River Steel is actually making the environment cleaner? Well, we are.
In March 2017, Big River’s Flex Mill® became the first steelmaking facility to be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified. Much like what you probably imagined, the steel industry typically isn’t associated with clean, healthy environments. But from day one, it was our commitment to give back not to just to the community, but to our physical surroundings.
Before there was a steel mill, there were soybean fields. How did a soybean field become the future site of the world’s first Flex Mill®? Located on the Mississippi River, mainline railroad and major highways, it was the ideal spot for receiving scrap – which in-and-of-itself is environmentally beneficial as recycled materials – and shipping steel by rail, barge and truck. Luckily for the land, the Big River team was conscious of the property and worked hard to sustain it. That dedication is what our LEED certification represents.