In 2017 Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works invested 4,157.8 million rubles in environmental initiatives. From 2018 to 2025 the company plans to spend more than 38 billion rubles on environmental protection.
In 2017, 2,578 million rubles were invested in the construction and reconstruction of facilities aimed at improving air quality. As a result of the implementation of 31 environmental initiatives, air pollutant emissions were cut by 2,536 tons per year. The key projects of the past year included the reconstruction of the sulphur capture systems at the sinter plant, the reconstruction of the gas-cleaning unit at the double-hearth furnace of the electric arc furnace facility, and the construction of aspiration systems for casting beds at blast-furnaces Nos. 9 and 10. These initiatives were carried out in line with the four-party cooperation agreement between MMK, Chelyabinsk region, the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Federal Service for the Supervision of Natural Resources, signed as part of the Year of Ecology held in Russia in 2017. Also in 2017 MMK completed 15 water protection initiatives, which reduced water pollutant discharge by nearly 700 tons per year. In 2017 the company launched a large-scale project for the reconstruction of the water circulation supply system with expansion of the coolant reservoir. This project is expected to be completed in 2018. As a result, wastewater volume should be reduced 11-fold, and pollutant mass should decrease 7-fold.
As part of a program aimed at re-cultivating the Western quarry of Magnitnaya mountain, in 2017 MMK planted trees and bushes across an area of 20 thousand square meters. This included 920 tree seedlings (ash and apple) and 1,540 shrubs (acacia and briar). Also in 2017 MMK processed 5.6 million tons of slag from stock heaps II and III. This year the company will complete the processing of the stage III stock heap. In addition to the reclamation of disused land, in 2017 MMK carried out an urban landscaping environmental initiative, planting 1,000 seedlings on the territory of 77 schools and pre-schools, and 460 Siberian spruce in the Southern part of Magnitogorsk.
The constant reduction of the plant’s harmful impact on the environment and introduction of the best available technologies are the most important elements of MMK’s strategy, ensuring the long-term and sustainable development of the company. (MMK/Ukrainian metal)