Water serves to cool equipment and to generate steam that is used to produce energy and thus is an important consumable and auxiliary material in the entire production and processing cycle.
voestalpine uses water resources as sparingly as possible thanks to circular systems and the repeated utilization of process water. In keeping with ISO 14046 and the LCA approach, comprehensive assessments of the water circulation systems are performed across all production steps and sites.
The amount of water used rose from 722 million m3 in calendar year 2021 to 741 million m3 in calendar year 2022. Most of it (93%) was sourced from surface water for cooling purposes and returned back to the source in the same quality.
More than 95% of the cooling and wastewater discharge streams of voestalpine Group companies were subjected to both quantitative and qualitative parameter monitoring. This periodic and continuous monitoring ensures compliance with applicable national and regional standards.
The direct net consumption of freshwater fell from 14.0 million m3 to 11.4 million m3, which equates to an unchanged 1.32 m3 per ton of product. In calendar year 2022, upstream steel production accounted for most of the indirect consumption of 43.6 million m3 (2021: 53.4 million m3) in absolute terms and 5.03 m3 unchanged per ton of product.
voestalpine’s water consumption in production and processing has but minor effects on local water systems and does not aggravate conditions in regions already affected by water scarcity. This is the finding of an externally verified study that determined the water scarcity footprint based on an analysis of all production activities across the entire value chain (“cradle to gate”). Determining the “blue water consumption” (i.e., the net consumption of freshwater) and/or the water scarcity footprint of each and every production facility involves analyzing the ways they contribute to the given region’s water scarcity in detail, also taking local hydrogeological conditions into account.
Water extraction 2022
Water footprint 2022
In %
