Novolipetsk Steel has discontinued the discharge of industrial effluents into the Voronezh river, whilst decreasing consumption of river water by 3 times.

This was achieved through the completion of a large-scale refurbishment of the process water supply system and the introduction of a new circuit.  NLMK constructed a network of new pipelines, commissioned new pump stations and reconstructed existing ones. As a result of these measures water can be re-used in the production process, without having to draw water from the river.

The project, priced at over RUR600 million, was implemented as part of NLMK’s Technical Upgrade Program and allowed the Company to achieve the best environmental performance among the Russian steel companies.

For reference:

NLMK allocated over RUR 2.6bn to environmental protection measures in 2008. NLMK’s environmental management system complies with the requirements of the international standard ISO 14001-2004. In 2008, the company successfully passed a re-certification audit of the Environmental Management System conducted by TUV CERT (Germany the certification authority).