GMH Gruppe among the pioneers of LESS certification – with products reaching Grade B

First results confirm the company’s ability to deliver low-emission steel, transparently classified and verified.

GMH Gruppe is among the first steel producers to be certified under the new Low Emission Steel Standard (LESS). As a pilot company in the auditing process, together with another steelmaker, the group has been instrumental in shaping this new benchmark for sustainable steel. The certification confirms that GMH Gruppe has already achieved Grade B, one of the leading categories for climate-friendly steel, at Georgsmarienhütte GmbH, the largest steel producer within the group, and has also classified products in Grades C and D.

LESS sets the new benchmark for sustainable steel

LESS was developed by industry, science and policymakers to promote comparability and transparency in the evaluation of low-carbon steel. The standard is built around three core elements:

1. Grading of climate performance on a scale from E (lowest) to A (highest within the low-emission categories), complemented by an additional “Near Zero” status. This top-level classification is only achievable if the entire supply chain is demonstrably decarbonized.
2. Disclosure of the scrap share, indicating the proportion of recycled material used in the production process.
3. Information about Product Carbon Footprint (PCF), providing a quantifiable and comparable measure of CO₂ emissions across the value chain, including upstream processes such as electricity generation and alloy production. The Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) is not determined within the LESS standard itself, but must be verified independently. Nevertheless, steel producers are expected to disclose the PCF of the final product on the LESS label.

Together, these elements create a transparent framework that lays the foundation for green lead markets across Europe’s basic materials industries.

GMH Gruppe’s achievement: Grade B and beyond

Certification up to Grade B demonstrates GMH Gruppe’s substantial progress in decarbonizing its production processes and its ability to combine low emissions with a high share of recycled material. Additional classifications in Grades C and D reflect the diversity of the group’s portfolio within the framework of the new LESS system.

Transparency and validation as guiding principles

GMH Gruppe already produces steel in electric arc furnaces based on recycled scrap, reducing CO₂ emissions by around 80 percent compared with the conventional blast furnace route (Scope 1 and 2). Since 2023, Georgsmarienhütte GmbH has been providing its customers with the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) for all grades. This methodology, validated by TÜV SÜD, is applied to more than 1,000 steel variants. LESS certification was therefore a logical step in continuing the group’s long-standing commitment to transparency and accountability.

A milestone for green lead markets

The introduction of LESS is a breakthrough for the European steel industry. It creates a fair and transparent basis for evaluating and pricing climate-friendly raw materials, enabling both the public sector and private companies to make informed procurement decisions.

“LESS is a decisive step toward the transparency needed to establish green lead markets. It will accelerate the acceptance of climate-friendly steel, and GMH Gruppe is proud to be at the forefront of this transformation,” Großmann emphasized.

“The success of LESS is built on the commitment of its member companies,” highlighted Dr. Carmen Ostwald, Secretary General of LESS aisbl. “The initial pilot certifications posed a particular challenge, and I’m deeply grateful that GMH Gruppe stepped forward to actively support this process. It makes me all the more pleased to award one of the very first LESS certificates to GMH Gruppe.”

About GMH Gruppe

GMH Gruppe is a full-service provider of steel products, ranging from scrap-based steelmaking to ready-to-install components. It is one of Europe’s largest privately owned metal-processing companies. The group comprises 20 medium-sized production companies in the steel, forging and casting industries, serving customers in over 50 countries. With around 6,000 employees, GMH Gruppe generates annual revenues of approximately 2 billion euros.
GMH Gruppe is a pioneer in sustainable steel production and a member of the ‘German Association of Climate Protection Companies’. By recycling metal scrap, the company produces green steel and contributes to a circular economy. Electric arc furnaces at four sites reduce CO2 emissions by a factor of five compared to conventional blast furnaces – thus significantly lowering the carbon footprint for GMH customers worldwide. These include companies from the automotive, mechanical engineering, railway, energy, logistics, aerospace, agriculture and construction machinery sectors.
GMH Gruppe is committed to achieving full climate-neutrality by 2039. www.gmh-gruppe.de/en/

About LESS

LESS aisbl is a non-profit association based in Brussels and the system owner of the Low Emission Steel Standard. It currently represents European steel producers covering almost 45% of EU crude steel production. Membership includes primary and secondary steel producers. The Low Emission Steel Standard (LESS) provides a structured framework for assessing, classifying, labelling and verifying low-emission steel. LESS allows steel producers to demonstrate and verify their decarbonisation progress in a transparent and comparable manner, using a certification system for low- and near-zero emission steel.
www.lowemissionsteelstandard.org