Steel Industry and the Environment

This report on the steel industry addresses the need for a fundamental shift in the industry's approach to meet the goals of sustainable development through cleaner production. It also provides a framework for the transfer of environmentally sound know-how and technology. The report gives and overview of best practices used in the different steelmaking processes to prevent pollution, and reports on pollution control equipment available, explaining how by-products can be efficiently re-processed. Examples are drawn from steel companies worldwide, and used to illustrate what is technically and economically feasible with cleaner production processes. Local and global environmental issues from steelmaking, such as air emissions and soil and groundwater contamination, are examined in detail, while lesser promoted issues such as habitat protection are briefly discussed.
The text also discusses the demand for a systematic approach to management through the use of formalized Environmental Management Systems (EMS), and outlines some of the main elements of regulatory instruments such as obligatory public disclosure of emissions data, agreed environmental impact assessment, cleaner production assessment, life-cycle assessment and environmental reporting.