In addition to conserving resources in production and processing, voestalpine undertakes numerous activities designed to optimize the durability of its products, as well as their reusability, recyclability and recoverability.
Due to their composition, many of the byproducts generated by the production and downstream processing of pig iron and steel can be utilized in-house as recycled materials, or in other industrial branches (e.g. steel mill dust in the zinc industry, slag in the cement industry) as secondary raw materials.
Process management in integrated metallurgical facilities is optimized on an ongoing basis in order to ensure a high degree of internal recycling and external utilization of waste and residual products that accrue from production facilities and downstream machinery, including filter dust and mill scale. Additionally, products, residual materials, and waste that accrue in external production facilities are also utilized in voestalpine production facilities, for example, scrap, plastic pellets, and used oil and grease.
At the crude steel production sites in Austria, Germany, Sweden, and Brazil, the percentage of recycled materials of the total material used was 22.2% in the calendar year 2017, roughly the same level as in previous years.
The specific volume of non-hazardous waste in 2017 amounted to 116 kg per ton of crude steel. The specific volume of hazardous waste was 22 kg per ton of crude steel. Fluctuations between the reporting periods are largely the result of construction activities and the resultant construction waste, for both hazardous and non-hazardous waste.
Recycling rate
In %
Volume of waste
kt
Specific volume of waste
kg/t of product
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