Magnitogorsk has been excluded from the list of cities with the most polluted air in 2018, according to a report by the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Thanks to MMK’s large-scale environmental program, the Comprehensive Air-quality Index (CAI) indicator for the city will have been reduced to a low level by 2025.
The draft of the official report “On the State and Environmental Protection of the Russian Federation in 2018” was published on the ministry’s website. According to the report, the environmental situation in Magnitogorsk has improved significantly.
“Compared to the previous year, the concentration of Benzo(a)pyrene in Magnitogorsk has decreased more than 2-fold,” the authors wrote.
“The results of the study reflect MMK’s consistent efforts to reduce its anthropogenic impact on the environment,” said MMK CEO Pavel Shilyaev. “Last year alone the company successfully implemented 69 environmental projects. One of MMK’s most recent large-scale environmental projects was the launch of a new sinter plant in July equipped with the latest environmentally friendly technologies: in addition to improving production performance, the new sinter plant will make it possible to achieve a twofold reduction in dust emissions, a 4-fold reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions, and a 16-fold reduction in Benzo(a)pyrene emissions.”
Last year, according to the report, the company increased its investment in environmental protection measures by 27%, to 8,968 billion rubles. As a result MMK reduced the mass of pollutants emitted into the atmosphere by 1.1 thousand tons compared to the previous year. The company has made strides in other areas of environmental protection as well: notably, MMK ended the discharge of wastewater into the Magnitogorsk reservoir and switched to a fully closed circulation water supply system, with the reuse of 100% of wastewater in its technological processes. Waste disposal (excluding waste rock) in 2018 decreased by 122 thousand tons (9.2%).
MMK will continue to reduce its impact on the atmosphere: in accordance with MMK’s Clean City initiative, the CAI indicator in Magnitogorsk is planned to have been brought down to below 5 units by 2025. As part of this initiative, in recent years the company has completed the reconstruction of the sulfur recover units in the sintering plant with a total investment of more than 4 billion rubles, upgraded the air-cleaning systems in the blast furnace shop with a total investment of 1.9 billion rubles, and built a system of dust collection systems at blast furnaces Nos. 9 and 10, worth 1.2 billion rubles.
In 2019 MMK began the construction of the new coke oven complex No. 12, with a production capacity of 2.5 million tons per year. It is scheduled for commissioning in 2021, which will allow for five old plants to be decommissioned and for emissions to be reduced by 11,350 tons. In 2024 the company plans to launch the complex of the new blast furnace No. 11 with a production capacity of 3.7 million tons of crude iron per year. As a result, three old blast furnaces will be decommissioned and emissions will be further reduced by 6,600 tons. Both facilities – the new coke oven battery and the new blast furnace complex – will use technology that meets the best available international standards.
From 2018 to 2025 MMK plans to allocate more than 38 billion rubles for new environmental projects, including 21.7 billion rubles for air protection initiatives. The total cost of MMK Group’s environmental activities in the period from 2000 to 2018 exceeded 58 billion rubles. (MMK/Ukrainian metal)