Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)
We are committed to promoting the health, safety, and wellbeing of our employees and their families, as well as supporting the communities in which we live and work. We strive to foster a culture of excellence by generating industry leading results while operating responsibly and ethically, minimizing environmental impacts, and leveraging the diversity of talent and perspectives within our Family of Companies.
Environment
We are committed to mitigating the impact that our products and operations may have on the environment. We are not a metals producer or mill – we operate metals service centers. As a distributor and “first-stage” processor of metal products, our operations, by their nature, have a limited environmental impact as we do not emit significant amounts of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases.
In addition, the overwhelming majority of our operations involve the distribution and processing of inherently sustainable steel and aluminum products that are (i) are some of the most commonly-recycled materials in the United States and (ii) can be 100% recycled without loss of quality. We believe steel, one of our most significant products, is the most recycled material on the planet – more than plastic, paper, and glass combined each year. In 2022, we reintroduced over 197,500 tons of recycled scrap material into the manufacturing life cycle.
We continue to evaluate and implement energy conservation and other initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of our business.
As a processor and distributor of metals, and not a producer, we acknowledge and embrace our role in protecting the environment and are currently assessing our impacts. Our strong desire is to identify and prioritize areas of improvement. In order to align our environmental initiatives with our broader strategy, we completed a materiality assessment in 2021 to determine the environmental matters that are most critical to our business and our stakeholders.
As a result of the materiality assessment, we determined that the most material environmental issues are: (i) emissions from company-owned trucks that deliver our products; and (ii) our overall energy usage. We expect to update this materiality assessment on a periodic basis to ensure it reflects changes in our business and the external environment. We continue to analyze the detail of our direct emissions (Scope 1 and 2) across the majority of our facilities. We look forward to communicating our progress over time as we continue to maintain focus on ESG matters.
Scope 1 emissions(1) represent direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from fuel consumed to operate our trucking fleet and facility operations. As a distributor, approximately 75% of our Scope 1 emissions arise from fuel consumption for product delivery. Scope 1 (GHG) emissions for our fleet of 1,700+ trucks, ~315 locations and 36.5 million square feet of owned and leased facility square footage:
- 2022: 184,000 metric tons
- 2021: 185,000 metric tons
- 2020: 179,000 metric tons
Scope 2 emissions(2) represent indirect GHG emissions from purchased electricity. Emissions at each facility vary based on amount of energy purchased and emissions efficiency of grid energy source. Scope 2 emissions across our ~315 locations:
- 2022: 116,000 metric tons
- 2021: 115,000 metric tons
- 2020: 113,000 metric tons
Emissions intensity represents emissions efficiency on a sales or volume basis(3):
- 2022: Sales – 17.6 metric tons/$M, Volume – 24.6 metric tons/thousand tons
- 2021: Sales – 21.3 metric tons/$M, Volume – 24.6 metric tons/thousand tons
- 2020: Sales – 33.1 metric tons/$M, Volume – 36.6 metric tons/thousand tons
(1) Scope 1 emissions, in mt CO2e, are calculated based on fuel usage and United States Environmental Protection Agency’s April 2021 fuel emissions factors.
(2) Scope 2 emissions, in mt CO2e, are calculated by applying latest eGrid emissions factors to purchased electricity.
(3) Sales intensity, reported as mt CO2e/$M net sales and volume intensity, reported at mt CO2e/K tons sold and tons toll processed.
Social
Focus on Safety
The safety of our employees is one of our core values and an important element of our day-to-day operational focus. In 2017, Reliance launched the SMART Safety program, which focuses on embedding our culture of safety across all of our operations.
Safety performance updates:
- Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) for each of the last five years ended December 31
- 2022: 1.61
- 2021: 2.12
- 2020: 1.86
- 2019: 2.43
- 2018: 2.86
- Average USDOT Recordable Accident Rate for each of the last five years ended December 31(1)
- 2022: 0.55
- 2021: 0.54
- 2020: 0.60
- 2019: 0.75
- 2018: 0.78
(1) We have not identified a universally accepted and annually updated benchmarking standard for DOT Rate but believe our rate represents safest driving practices.
- 2022 program focus “BE SAFE, BE WELL, BE RELIANCE” to further improve safety performance
- In our facilities, behavioral safety culture is a primary focus, with an increased emphasis on “near-miss” reporting and resolution. We define a near-miss event as a situation where no personal injury was sustained and no property was damaged, but given a slight shift in time or position, injury and/or damage could have occurred. We believe that this focus has increased awareness to potential incidents at our facilities.
- Each employee accountable for safety
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
We believe that superior Company performance requires contributions from a diverse workforce that includes a variety of employee experiences, backgrounds, and characteristics. We are committed to providing fair and unbiased opportunities and hiring, developing and supporting a diverse and inclusive workplace. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion is also reinforced by our Code of Conduct, which prohibits employment discrimination or harassment based on race, color, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), national origin, religion, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. For more on diversity and inclusion at Reliance, see our Careers page.
Community Service
Reliance is committed to investing in and enriching the communities in which we live and work. Giving back to those in need and enriching people’s lives is a deep-rooted philosophy embedded in our Reliance Cares Corporate Social Responsibility program through which we support non-profit organizations that align with our three giving pillars: (i) Education, (ii) Community Enrichment, and (iii) Employee Emergency Assistance. Our partnerships with non-profit organizations provide employees with volunteering opportunities to engage and give back to their local communities. Our dedication to each and every member of our Family of Companies is the foundation for our Employee Assistance Fund dedicated to supporting employees impacted by natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reliance Cares
In 2017, we launched an employee assistance fund to support our workforce of approximately 14,000+ individuals across 40 states and 12 countries outside of the U.S. The employee assistance fund is available to any of our employees impacted by a natural disaster. In the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, in August and September 2017, we provided financial assistance to 135 employees through our Immediate Response Program. We further funded 27 grants to help our employees’ rebuilding efforts. Through employee funded contributions, matched dollar-for-dollar by Reliance, we have been able to provide approximately 1,000 grants to employees (including approximately 170 grants to support employees and their families responding to COVID-19 related personal impacts) since the inception of Reliance Cares in 2017.