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Environmental performance

Environmental performance

Atmospheric protection
Sustainable management of water resources
High recycling rate
Energy efficient production

Novolipetsk Steel is one of the most advanced steelmaking companies in the world in relation to the environment In 2002, NLMK became one of the first Russian steelmakers to successfully pass the certification of its Environmental Management System (EMS) by TUV CERT Certification (Germany), an international certification agency. In 2013, NLMK's Environmental Management System was certified as compliant with ISO 14001 by BSI (British Standards Institution, UK).

Since 2000, NLMK invested approximately RUB 46 bn in its environmental projects. Since then, the output has almost doubled and the company became the largest steel producer in Russia. Adoption of new state-of-the-art technologies alongside a major equipment upgrade significantly reduced the Group's environmental footprint.

Greenhouse gas emissions at NLMK Lipetsk in 2020

In line with the EU ETS methodology (European Union Emission Trading Scheme), 2020 greenhouse gas emissions for key raw materials at the Lipetsk site, namely sinter, coke, lime, and dolomite, totaled 0.220, 0.376, 1.054, and 1.521 tonnes of CO2-eq. per tonne of product, respectively. For pig iron production, the indicator totaled 1.391 tonnes of CO2-eq., a 5% gap with the EU ETS reference value (calculated for 10% of the best steel companies in the EU). NLMK Group plans to reduce this gap to 3% during its current strategic cycle. This information is accurate as of the date of its publication (11 June 2021).

Investment in NLMK Group environmental projects, $ m

Today, NLMK Group has halved its specific atmospheric emissions, achieving the level of best available technologies.

These results were made possible by a set of management activities and investment projects. The measures include production line overhauls, installing high-efficiency dust and gas cleaning units, mounting or modifying filtering equipment, as well as introducing technologies for secondary resource neutralization, capture, and utilization in the production loop.

Reduction of specific emissions at NLMK Group sites, kg/t of steel

NLMK Group is one of the industry leaders in terms of water use efficiency and minimal negative impact on water basins in the regions of its operation due to the adoption of advanced environmental technologies.

Specific water consumption (difference between water use and water disposal) has been consistently reduced reaching 2.2 m³/t in 2022.

Most NLMK Group businesses use closed-circuit water supply systems. NLMK Lipetsk, Altai-Koks, VIZ Steel, NLMK Kaluga, Stoilensky, NLMK Ural, NLMK Metalware, NLMK DanSteel, NLMK Indiana, NLMK Pennsylvania, NLMK Sharon Coating, NLMK Verona, NLMK Clabecq and NLMK La Louvière have introduced water recycling systems both local for individual facilities and plant-wide. This serves to reduce fresh water intake and industrial waste water discharge into surface water bodies.

The share of recycled water supply in NLMK Group remains at a consistently high level of over 97%. In 2020, NLMK Group reached a five-year low of water consumption due to its operational measures for consumption control.

In 2020 NLMK Lipetsk implemented a project to upgrade local wastewater treatment facilities, with investment amounting to RUB 118 million. Over the last five years, the volume of water disposal at the Lipetsk site went down by 4.2 million m³ (-34%).

Over the last 40 years the intake of fresh water from the Voronezh River by the Group’s core site in Lipetsk has been reduced ninefold.

Water intake from the Voronezh River, mln m³

The Strategy 2023 goal to reduce the discharge of pollutants into water bodies by 25% across NLMK Group has been attained in 2021.

Dynamics of pollutants entering water bodies with effluents across NLMK Group, kt

In 2020 NLMK Lipetsk completed a capex project to upgrade its local waste water treatment facilities with investment totalling RUB 118 million. In 2022, compared to 2016, the discharge of pollutants was cut by 56% due to the upgrade of local treatment facilities at NLMK Lipetsk site completed in 2020 and a set of actions to reduce waste water discharge by 40%.

Advanced technologies for recycling secondary resources and other recycling initiatives enable efficient secondary resource use. In 2020, 99% of iron-containing raw materials at NLMK Group companies was recycled*.

In 2020 NLMK Lipetsk fully recycled its slag dump, where 5 million tonnes of secondary resources had amassed since the 1970s. Over 300,000 tonnes of iron was extracted from the dump and recycled in steel production. Approximately 25 hectares of usable space was returned into operation.

excluding mining waste