Green development: A solution to post-pandemic recovery for businesses

According to statistics, the number of enterprises temporarily suspending operations last year totalled almost 55,000, an increase of 18 per cent compared to 2020. The majority of those businesses had been operating for less than five years and this reflects the impact of the pandemic on the overall economic situation.

Pham Binh An, deputy head of Ho Chi Minh City Institute of Development Studies said, "Clearly, the pandemic has two sides, causing socio-economic losses as well as damage to human lives, but it also opens a new opportunity to restructure the economy."

Investment in green development will help businesses demonstrate their commitment, efforts, and responsibility to the government and the wider society, thereby ensuring more long-term benefits.

Present in the country since 1993 as an alloy-coated steel producer – an industry with high energy consumption – NS Bluescope Vietnam has always been a pioneer in the practice of green production activities and has the vision to be carbon neutral by 2050.

To achieve this ambition, NS BlueScope Vietnam acts with initiatives focusing on replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy and alternative sources.

Speaking about its green production journey, a representative of NS BlueScope Vietnam stated, “First, we focused on our internal resources, simply by improving technology and operational efficiency.”

The representative of NS BlueScope Vietnam sharing about the company's green production journey with a carbon-neutral vision by 2050

“Next, we invested in inverters, improved cooling and automation systems, and also paid attention to the smallest details such as changing to LED lights to be more environmentally friendly,” said the representative.

Due to the specificity of the industry, steel manufacturing companies always require molten metal pots to operate continuously. This is a significant source of energy consumption and carbon emissions. This Australian alloy-coated steel manufacturer has chosen to arrange seamless and continuous production to limit machine downtime during maintenance, thereby reducing carbon emissions.

As a result, within just five years, this business has reduced around 2,800 tonnes of CO₂. After successfully reducing emissions across the entire plant, NS BlueScope Vietnam continues to invest in rooftop renewable energy to move towards the goal of reducing carbon emissions by 30 per cent per ton of finished steel products.

These efforts have been recognised by prestigious organisations. Recently, the Singapore Green Building Council granted Green Label certification for premium steel applied in the industrial and civil segments and exclusively for NS BlueScope Vietnam's sandwich panels, such as COLORBOND steel, ZINCALUME steel, SUMO Antifading, COLORBOND For Panel, SUMO For Panel, and BlueScope Zacs.

This is the first and only enterprise in the alloy-coated steel industry to receive this certification.

NS BlueScope Vietnam is the first and only enterprise in the alloy-coated steel industry to receive Green Label certification from the Singapore Green Building Council

Many green projects choose NS BlueScope Vietnam's alloy-coated steel for their factories. These include projects such as the Jotun Vietnam factory in Nha Be, the SLP factory in Hai Phong, the Canifa factory in Hung Yen, Coca-Cola Ho Chi Minh City, the DBW garment factory and Tainan textile factory in Long An, and the Danapha factory in Danang.

CANIFA Van Giang Complex has chosen to use alloy-coated steel solutions from NS BlueScope Vietnam

What makes NS BlueScope Vietnam's green development strategy special is that the company not only orients towards sustainable development for its business but also for the entire supply chain.

Recently, the company announced the Responsible Sourcing programme for the 2022-2030 period and a strategy to combat climate change in the supply chain by 2050.

“Our responsible sourcing is already in line with strict ethical standards and social responsibility. With the new programme, we have added a 30 per cent reduction in carbon emissions to our chain of 35 steelmaking material suppliers,” said a representative from NS BlueScope Vietnam.

Previously a member of NS BlueScope Vietnam, NS BlueScope Lysaght signed a strategic cooperation agreement in the field of energy balance with GSB – a supplier of steel structure solutions with over 10 years of experience – and GreenViet – one of the first green building consultants in Vietnam. With this agreement, the three companies are expected to provide the industry with a full package of energy-balanced architectural solutions from design and consultation to construction.

With many ventures in place to realise its carbon-neutral vision by 2050, NS BlueScope Vietnam is a typical example of green development and moving towards a circular economy in the country.