According to Reuters, the two contenders for this title were a wind turbine maker, called Vestas Wind and a US-based steel recycling specialist, Schnitzer Steel Industries.

Despite the fact that wind power is getting a lot of attention, especially with regards to clean energy production, the steel recycling company was designated as being the world's most sustainable yet.

This is due to the fact that Portland-based Schnitzer Steel Industries started to make improvements in 2021 with regards to energy, carbon, water and waste management.

Corporate Knights thinks that these efforts made the steel recycling specialist worthy of the most sustainable company in the world in 2023, leading 99 other firms that are among the most environmentally-responsible.

Corporate Knights CEO Toby Heaps said that "Schnitzer Steel is the first steel company to top the Global 100."

"If one of the world's dirtiest sectors can produce the most sustainable company in the world, then there is no excuse for any company in any sector not to step up", he added.

There are 25 indicators that companies must check in order to climb higher on the sustainability ladder and some of those are investing in carbon reduction and employee racial and gender diversity.

Schnitzer Steel managed to score a 74% increase in energy efficiency, 55% increase in carbon efficiency and 69% in water efficiency in 2021. In the same year, company officials decided that all of the 2.8 billion dollars coming from revenue were to be invested in sustainability-focused measures.

Wind turbine maker Vestas Wind's head of sustainability, Lisa Ekstrand, said that the company will use detailed information from the ranking in order to identify where it can make sustainability improvements.