Johnson Controls, a global provider of smart and sustainable buildings, announced the launch of a program for recycling steel, through a collaboration with Nucor Corporation, the largest steel producer and recycler in North America.

Nucor and its affiliates are manufacturers of steel and steel products — including steel fasteners, racking, castings, conduits, and more — with operating facilities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Currently, more than 70% of Johnson Controls’ steel purchases in the U.S. and 45% globally are manufactured from recycled scrap materials. The program with Nucor will recycle nearly 100% of that secondary scrap steel again, amounting to thousands of tons each year, at major Johnson Controls manufacturing sites in the U.S.

“We are excited to work more closely with Johnson Controls and build on our longstanding relationship by developing this recycling program,” said Noah Hanners, executive VP of Raw Materials for Nucor Corporation. “Nucor pioneered the use of EAF technology in the late 1960s, and we are now one of the cleanest, most sustainable steel producers in the world.”

Nucor will remelt the scrap steel using electric-arc furnace (EAF) technology, which generates approximately 75% less emissions than traditional blast furnace manufacturing. The remelted steel will be sold back to Johnson Controls for use in manufacturing. This closed-loop recycling process is a highly efficient form of circularity that’s especially well suited to metals like steel, which retain their strong material structures through multiple rounds of recycling and repurposing.

“This partnership with Nucor will allow us to accelerate upstream decarbonization significantly through the further recycling of thousands of tons of steel every year,” says Katie McGinty, VP and chief sustainability and external affairs officer at Johnson Controls. “We are excited not only about the immediate resource and emissions reductions, but also about the long-term ripple effect this closed-loop recycling partnership will have for resource, energy, and emissions savings.”