Metallurgical enterprises, wishing to meet the requirements of the market economy and the dynamically changing environment, implement measures that allow for reducing their environmental impact. An integral part of enterprise management systems are systems for rational waste and utility resource management in production processes. These activities are organized and structured.
The article discusses selected elements of waste management. The metallurgical enterprise Ferrum SA served as a case study. The company specializes in the production of steel pipes and is considered one of the pioneers of the Cleaner Production (CP) program. In 1993, the company signed the program declaration, and in 1996 it received the CP certificate.
Rational waste management in the metallurgical sector
Rational waste management allows metallurgical enterprises to achieve high recovery rates for individual types of waste. Some, such as steel scabs, iron turning and sawing waste, and steel scrap, are fully utilized in the production process. Modified production processes have allowed for significant use of steel scrap (currently, steel production takes place mainly in two processes: the basic oxygen furnace process and the electric arc furnace process. In the converter process, pig iron is fed into the converter with the addition of 15-20% steel scrap; in the electric process, steel is produced mainly on the basis of scrap. According to data from the Polish Steel Association, over the last few years, more than 40% of obsolete and environmentally unfriendly technologies in the Polish metallurgical sector have been physically liquidated. More than 90% of waste generated by metallurgical enterprises is subject to recycling. Energy and material consumption of production have been reduced. Emissions of basic pollutants into the air, i.e., NOx, SO2, and dust, have decreased. NOx and SO2 gases account for a small share of total emissions (1.5%). The dust emission index is approximately 0.70 kg per ton of crude steel. The amount of dust pollutants captured in cleaning devices is 98.8%. All plants in the iron and steel sector possess the legally required decisions regarding gas and dust emissions into the atmospheric air, water intake permits, wastewater discharge permits, and waste management permits. Furthermore, enterprises in the iron and steel sector have closed-loop water systems and are reducing the amount of water used in technological processes.
The process of managing metallurgical waste can take place inside or outside the enterprise. Post-production waste reused in the production processes of metallurgical enterprises consists primarily of iron and steel waste (steel scrap, particles of metals and their alloys). On the other hand, post-production waste transferred to other external entities includes, among others, blast furnace and steel slag. Specialized companies have emerged on the Polish market that deal with slag processing and the production of so-called aggregates, used for the production of building materials, asphalt surfaces, as well as for road sub-bases and wedging. Rational waste management consists of managing waste generated in production processes (post-production waste) as well as so-called post-consumer resources. The subject of recycling in metallurgical sector enterprises includes, among others, decommissioned building structures, equipment, machinery, means of transport, used batteries, accumulators, packaging, waste lying on heaps, etc.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 6/2009.