Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) was awarded a certificate by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) for its contribution to sustainable development and environmental initiatives in the Chelyabinsk region, as well as for the successful implementation of its “Energy Management of Industrial Enterprises” program.
UNIDO is a specialized agency of the United Nations, whose main objective is to promote sustainable industrial development. The representative functions of the organization in Russia are performed by the UNIDO Centre for Industrial Cooperation in the Russian Federation.
The UN experts praised MMK’s efforts to reduce and prevent anthropogenic impact on the environment. Last year alone the company successfully implemented 69 environmental measures, and work continues on 15 further measures. In 2018 MMK invested a total of 6.464 billion rubles into its environmental program. The total cost of MMK Group’s environmental activities in the period from 2000 to 2018 exceeded 58 billion rubles. The result of this work was the reduction of the company’s air emissions 1.6-fold in the period (specific consumption was reduced 2.1-fold) and the reduction of total discharge of pollutants into water bodies 2.9-fold over the same period. Today 100% of industrial wastewater is used in water recycling.
UNIDO also highly commended the energy management system at MMK. The system was certified in 2016 for compliance with the requirements of the international standard ISO 50001 and has allowed MMK to save a significant amount of energy resources annually, as well as to dramatically reduce atmospheric emissions. In 2017 the total economic savings from the implementation of projects to improve energy efficiency of production processes at MMK amounted to around 1 billion rubles.
MMK operates with full understanding of the company’s responsibility for their impact on the environment. The environmental policy of the company provides for a significant reduction of emissions, which will help to achieve a lower level of air pollution in Magnitogorsk by 2025. The company plans to allocate more than 38 billion rubles for environmental activities in the period from 2018 to 2025. (MMK/Ukrainian metal)