March 3, 2020
PAO Severstal, one of the world’s leading vertically integrated steel and
steel-related mining companies, announces its plans to invest plan
approximately 1.1 billion roubles in environmental projects in 2020. The
investment will cover a full environmental refurbishment programme at
Severstal’s main assets to further reduce the Group’s environmental impact.
671 million roubles will be invested in environmental refurbishment at the
Cherepovets Steel Mill (CherMK, part of Severstal’s Russian Steel division) in
2020. A key project to improve air protection will be the technical
refurbishment of the solid fuel preparation unit in sinter shop No. 3. This
will contribute towards Russia’s federal Clean Air project, which is part of
the national Ecology project, and is expected to reduce Severstal’s carbon
monoxide emissions by 5,846 thousand tons annually.
In addition, in 2020, the CherMK coke-and-gas plant will complete
metrological certification for its system of monitoring the particle
composition of exhaust gases from the sintering machines. The automatic system
will enable the plant to monitor its agglomeration technology in real-time. The
real-time monitoring will involve specialists measuring the process parameters
and the concentration of agglomeration-specific substances online. Once the
system is fully installed and the real-time agglomeration technology monitoring
is up and running, the plant expects to reduce its pollutant emissions by 2,579
thousand tons annually.
Severstal-metiz plans to invest 30 million roubles in the Orel steel rolling
plant. The majority of the investment is aimed at improving production
technology, which will reduce its impact on the environment, primarily by
reducing acidic effluents.
406 million roubles will be invested in the Company’s Resources businesses
in 2020. In 2020, Vorkutaugol will allocate 87 million roubles towards the full
or partial modernisation of treatment facilities at all of its current mines
and the Vorkuta mechanical plant.
Environmental investments at Olkon this year are planned to total 39 million
roubles; six of the 17 aspiration systems at the crushing and processing plant
are due to be replaced, and a full replacement of the remaining systems is
scheduled over the next three years. Funds will also be used for building
treatment facilities with modern treatment systems for wastewater releases in
the quarry named after the XV anniversary of the October Revolution, and in the
Komsomolsk quarry.
In 2020, the construction of a pilot desulphurisation plant will begin at
Karelsky Okatysh, which will capture sulphur dioxide formed after firing
pellets. The company is also launching two water conservation projects:
treating quarry water using a natural component – peat substrate, and the
construction of a closed circuit of the tailings storage facility, to minimise
discharges into water bodies. These projects are expected to be developed over
several years. In 2020, Karelian Okatysh will invest over 193 million roubles
in environmental initiatiatives.
Yakovlevsky GOK will invest approximately 87 million roubles in
environmental initaitives in 2020. Its primary focus will be on developiong a
technological solution to purify mine water. The Company is currently working
on the design of experimental phyto-treatment facilities. Once industrial tests
have been completed, based on the effectiveness of the technology plans will be
drawn up for further rollout.
Alexander Shevelev, CEO of Severstal, commented:
“Severstal is committed to achieving a balance between our economic goals
and our responsibility to the environment. All of our investment projects
include both an environmental impact assessment and a list of measures to
minimize this impact. As a result, in 2019, Severstal Russian Steel reduced its
emissions of atmospheric pollutants to 277.5 thousand tons, compared with 391.7
thousand tons in 2018. We have also achieved progress at Severstal Resources,
where we have reduced these emissions, to 213 thousand tons in 2019 compared
with 220 thousand tons in 2018. The projects we are investing in this year will
further improve our environmental performance. We recognise that openness and
transparency on environmental issues are important to our stakeholders, and we
commit to transparent disclosure on our activities and their results. The Step
Up programme we are running with Worldsteel will be a particular focus, as this
will enable us to identify opportunities to reduce CO2 emissions at the
Cherepovets Steel Mill thanks based on our ongoing study using the Worldsteel
benchmarking system.”
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