Organised by Pathways - WSP’s Emerging Professionals (EP) group supporting employees with 3–10 years’ experience - the visit offered a rare glimpse into the industrial process behind Aotearoa New Zealand’s steel supply chain and the significant strides being made toward decarbonisation.
Pacific Steel, alongside its sister company NZ Steel (both owned by BlueScope), is preparing to launch a new Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) at its Glenbrook facility next year. The EAF will enable the recycling of scrap steel, blending it with traditional ironsand-derived steel to dramatically reduce carbon emissions.
Currently, Pacific Steel’s reinforcing products carry an embodied carbon footprint of approximately 3.95 tCO₂e (tonnes of greenhouse gases embodied in the product) per tonne of steel. With the introduction of recycled content, that figure is expected to drop to 1.89 - and even further to 0.49 for their 100% scrap recycled steel option. That’s an 88 percent reduction, placing it among the lowest carbon steel products globally.
“The emissions savings are phenomenal,” says WSP graduate engineer for bridges and civil structures Izzy Cattermole.
“For example, a bridge designed with 1,000 tonnes of reinforcing steel using Pacific Steel’s lower-carbon blend could avoid around 2,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases - the equivalent of burning about 750,000 litres of diesel.”
The visit included a full briefing on the steel-making process, from the creation of 1.5-tonne billets at Glenbrook to their transformation into steel wire and reinforcing products at Otahuhu. Attendees experienced the heat of the reheat furnaces, watched rolling stands stretch steel into precise diameters, and observed plant operations from the control rooms.
Beyond the technical insights, the visit underscored WSP’s commitment to developing its next generation of engineers. Through Pathways, WSP invests in professional and personal growth opportunities for emerging professionals, helping them build the skills and networks needed to shape the future of infrastructure.
