Struggle for a clean environment is a struggle for a healthy nation Nikolai Silin, "Sodruzhestvo. All-Ukrainian business journal of the Zaporozhye Chamber of Commerce & Industry" 7 (55) July 2007. Zaporizhstal Integrated Iron & Steel Works JSC is one of the largest industrial enterprises in Ukraine which specializes in the production of hot- and cold-rolled sheets, tinplates and consumer goods. Throughout the world these technological processes are connected with pollutant emissions into atmosphere, water basins and the formation of industrial waste. A triune task confronts not only the Works but also the metallurgical branch of industry on the whole: reduction of production costs, improvement of technology and reduction of detrimental effect on the environment. Many factors, first of all the health of our generation and also future generations, depend on what air we breathe or what water we drink. At the Works a programme on technical re-equipment of the main capacities with maximum introduction of resource saving technologies for the period up to 2015 has been made out. A significant part of this programme is dedicated to the introduction of nature preservation measures. Such is the policy carried out by the owners of the Works, Chairman of the Board, Vitaliy Antonovich Satskiy, and his team. To reduce environment pollution measures are taken at the Works to improve the operation of processing equipment, to equip the sources of emissions and disposal with cleaning units for utilization and application of industrial waste. Among the largest commissioned objects are the following: closed systems for industrial water purification of the sintering plant, blast furnace shop, open-hearth furnace shop, foundry and rolling shops; systems for suppressing emissions from the interbell space of 4 blast furnaces with nitrogen; a unique aspiration unit from the casting yard and under bunker premises of blast furnaces No.3,2; units for production of silicate bricks and woodwork with the application of industrial waste, etc, as raw material. The implementation of measures in the last 10 years has allowed to reduce emissions into atmosphere by 41%, reduction of waste water disposal by 30%, increase secondary usage of industrial water by 86%. In 2005, as a result of successful reconstruction of blast furnaces Nos. 2 and 3, it has become possible to decommission blast furnace No. 1, which allowed to reduce emission of noxious agents (dust and gaseous substances) into atmosphere by 3083 t/year. The implementation of nature preservation measures allowed to provide labour conditions at work places in the limits of required sanitary norms. As a result in 2005-2006 the total emission into atmosphere per ton of produced steel amounted to 17,8 kg/t. In February 2007 the Works signed a contract on delivery of equipment for PCI into blast furnaces. This technology will enable not only to reduce the consumption of coke and natural gas but also to considerably reduce the noxious emissions of greenhouse gases. The amount of carbon dioxide released into atmosphere during gas burning will be reduced by 519 thousand tons per year. Protection of the water basin is also one of the priority orientations of the Works activity. At the Works the programme on efficient utilization of recycled water in production processes and reduction of its discharge into the water basin has been realized. For this purpose 11 closed systems for purification of industrial water have been constructed and are being effectively used. During accomplishment of water control measures aimed at saving and rational usage of water resources the Works has gained the following results in 2000-2006: - Reduction of fresh water consumption for industrial needs by 3.0 million m3;
- Reduction of return water discharge into the Dnieper River by 4.079 million m3;
- Reduction of polluting substance discharge by 712 t/year.
In 2006 a closed complex of installations to catch the drainage water of the slag dumps of Zaporizhstal JSC and Zaporozhye ferro-alloy plant has been commissioned. This has enabled to exclude 1.0 million m3/year of drainage water flowing into the Dnieper River, and to reduce the consumption of fresh industrial water at the Works. The water in the closed recycling system is continuously used in the production process of the slag processing shop of the Works. Costs of such installations have amounted to 25 million UAH. To reduce the volume of return water discharge and to improve the water components quality in the Dnieper River, measures are taken at the Works to construct a hydrochloric acid pickling line with an installation for regeneration of waste pickled solutions and for further use of the regenerated products in production. Construction of a hydrochloric acid pickling line with regeneration of waste pickled solutions and decommissioning of the existing lines operating on sulfuric acid will enable to reduce the discharge of 1.5 million m3/year of incompletely purified water to the slime dump and have a closed system of production. As a result of the effective work of the closed systems for purifying industrial waters of the Works more than 200 thousand t/year of iron-containing slime is caught and returned to production, which is an additional source of raw material and does not require additional expenditure for its burial ground disposal. The Works policy regarding waste is directed towards minimizing its formation, increasing the amount of waste utilized in the production proper and its realization as secondary material resources and building material. All the iron-containing waste formed at the Works is fully used. Directly at the Works more than 35% of the total quantity of formed solid waste is used for a second time. This is metallic and metal containing waste, refractory scrap, foundry production waste, wood, etc. The products received after slag processing are sold to building enterprises. To improve the situation in gully Srednyaya, the industrial waste grounds, slime dump yards in Gorodysskaya and Kapustyanaya gullies, the following measures are taken: - Constant monitory research in the areas of the industrial waste grounds and slime dump yards, the effect they have on the environment;
- Measures are taken to limit the effect on the environment components, worked out according to the results of the carried out monitoring research;
- Methods are being searched for to increase the usage and utilization of industrial waste;
- A special project has been worked out to process the slag dumps in gully Srednyaya, including retooling and modernization of the slag processing shop, improvement of slag storage for further high-level processing.
Current expenditures on environment control annually amount to more than 60.0 million UAH per year, which allow to effectively exploit nature preservation objects of the Works and in due time to solve current ecological problems. Zaporizhstal JSC is a member of the ecological association of enterprises of the mining-metallurgical complex EKOMET. The main aim of the association is coordination of activities in the field of environment control and formation of its branch principles. In 2006 Zaporizhstal JSC underwent voluntary ecological audit. As a result of the carried out audit Zaporizhstal received a conclusion that the ecological aspects of the Works correspond to the requirements of legislative and normative acts of Ukraine on control of atmospheric air, water resources, land, flora and fauna, optimization of waste treatment. Also in 2006 at the Works a complete independent audit evaluation of its work due diligence was carried out, which included a deep analyses of its effect on the environment. Evaluation was accomplished by the expert-consulting company Metals Consulting International Limited (Great Britain).
The audit resulted in a conclusion on a considerable reduction of the negative effect on the environment due to the accomplishment of nature preservation measures and a correct course of the ecological policy. Ecological measures, programmes, new innovation approaches connected with the quality of industrial activity and its ecological integral constituent realized by Zaporizhstal JSC, were marked during the All-Ukrainian competition Ecological quality and safety. According to the results of the Works activity in 2006 the Works became the winner in the nomination Ecological quality and safety production. Zaporizhstal JSC actively and fruitfully cooperates with the city authorities on provision of urban amenities. Zaporizhstal JSC contributes significantly to the rebirth of the spiritual inheritance of our nation. It fully handles financing of the construction of the cultural and historical complex Zaporizhska Sich on the Khortitsa Island. It has invested 13 million UAH of its own funds into the project. Annually the Works appropriates thousands of UAH on the development of the sports complex of the city, creation of required conditions to train sportsmen at a world level. The Works pays great attention to the nature and aesthetic state of the shops territory. A real pearl is the pets corner in the Railway Transport Shop of the Works, where in the open air different kinds of birds and animals live. The Management of Zaporizhstal JSC does everything so that the people can live, work and rest in our beautiful city. Nikolay Silin Main Specialist
in Nature Preservation and Radiological Safety of Zaporizhstal JSC | 
