Mining, particularly open pit mining, is harsh on the environment. According to the Portland Cement Association, the cement industry is minimizing the disruption with "new technologies and a concerted effort to work closely with the communities in which quarries reside." Careful practices during operations minimize the impact, as does restoration of the sites to beneficial use. Sand, gravel, and crushed stone are typically mined in close proximity to their use, which gives quarry operators a strong incentive to be environmentally responsible and to maintain good relationships with the host community. Often, quarries are reclaimed for development, agriculture, or recreational uses.

The Association maintains that, since 1972, the cement industry has reduced the energy it takes to make a ton of cement by over 37 percent, along with associated combustion emissions. At current production levels, the savings are enough to power 2.3 million homes for a year. In 1990, U.S. cement manufacturers set performance improvement goals—among them, a means for continuous improvement through Environmental Management Systems that track, report and improve environmental performance. Specific goals per unit of production were set for 2020 and include reducing carbon dioxide by 10 percent, energy use by 20 percent, and cement kiln dust by 60 percent. The Association reports that the industry is likely to hit carbon reduction targets ahead of schedule.⁷

For its part, the steel industry has exceeded Kyoto accords for energy efficiency improvement by more than 240 percent and made sizeable reductions in GHG emissions. According to the American Iron and Steel Institute, the industry has reduced its energy consumption by 33 percent since 1990.⁸ Coal figures heavily in energy consumption, but as steel scrap is increasingly used to make new steel, natural resources are being conserved and energy consumption reduced, with manufacturers reducing annual energy consumption by an amount that would power 18 million households for one year. While significant amounts of energy are required to convert iron ore and scrap to steel, the US EPA reports that the sector's energy use per ton of steel shipped improved over the last decade, with corresponding reductions in actual energy used.

At the same time, the EPA states, "Release of CO2 is inherent to the chemical reactions through which iron ore is chemically reduced to make iron, and from the carbon content of iron when reduced to make steel. These emissions cannot be reduced except by changing the process by which iron and steel are made or by capturing and storing the CO2 after it is created. Research into new methods of steelmaking, is also targeting low-carbon processes."

In terms of chemicals reported via the US EPAs's Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), absolute and normalized air emissions declined by 67 percent between 1996 and 2005, even though production levels for the sector remained relatively steady. During the same period, the sector reported managing 726 absolute pounds of TRI chemicals, which represents a 34 percent increase. Of these, 257 million pounds were disposed of, while the rest were treated, recycled or used for energy recovery.⁹