COMMERCIAL METALS COMPANY 2015-2016 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 23 Our operations use water for process cooling, slag quenching, dust control and irrigation. A focus for CMC water conservation is to use recycled water in these processes. The total water use recycled and/or re-used was 97 percent in 2014, 96 percent in 2015 and 98 percent in 2016. The team at CMC Steel South Carolina put a significant amount of effort and instrumentation into understanding water use with a view to minimizing water consumption. Rigorous monitoring over the past 24 months enabled the team to map out monthly water use for each specific step within their process, track trends and identify improvements. CMC Recycling’s water treatment system in Lexington, which became operational at the start of FY2015, allows water to be treated on-site and re-used. Treated water that can’t be used on-site, due to weather patterns, is used as process water at the nearby mill, CMC Steel South Carolina. Throughout CMC, we are working to increasingly automate our systems so that water systems shut down when other processes cease to run. This is more difficult than it may sound – it’s easier to let systems run continuously to ensure that processes aren’t starved when water is needed. But CMC recognizes the potential efficiency and conservation opportunity, and we are committed to investigating our options. CMC recognizes the need for water stewardship throughout our operations. We are looking for innovative ways to improve our conservation, re-use and treatment of water. CMC Steel South Carolina Photo by ekelson