The steel concern's units have undergone a number of changes over the last two decades: the company implemented new technologies, in line with increasingly strict EU directives, decommissioned outdated installations and changed many production processes to those that have a significantly lower impact on the environment. During those 20 years, the company has invested over PLN 10.5 billion in Polish units, a large part of which in environmental projects. Thanks to them, ArcelorMittal Poland reduced dust emissions by 90% and carbon dioxide emissions by 42% compared to 2004.
The ArcelorMittal Group aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. An interim goal for European plants is to reduce CO2 emissions by 35% by 2030 compared to 2018. - Decarbonization is a huge challenge for the steel industry across Europe. In order to make it successful, several conditions must be met, including: access to large-scale, renewable energy at competitive prices. We know that the transformation will be a long-term process, so we are working intensively to limit our impact on the environment already, in our current processes - says Sanjay Samaddar, chairman of the Board of Directors in ArcelorMittal Poland.
More (investment) means less (emissions)
In recent years, only in Dąbrowa Górnicza the company has invested as much as PLN 700 million in environmental protection - in the steel plant, the efficiency of the dust removal system has increased threefold, the sinter plant has reduced dust emissions from two belts by more than six times, and the heat and power plant has reduced dust emissions by over 86%, nitrogen by 35% and sulfur dioxides by 66%. In Sosnowiec, thanks to the modernization of the heat and power plant and the construction of a flue gas desulfurization and dedusting installation, the company reduced dust and sulfur dioxide emissions.
Consistent reduction of dust and gas emissions are not the only actions taken by ArcelorMittal Poland to reduce the company's impact on the environment in Poland. The company also ensures air-tight sealing of e.g. coking plant installations, and attaches great importance to reducing the noise emitted by some lines or installations. The changes also concern production processes, from which the company eliminates outdated technologies. The modernization of the by-product department in Zdzieszowice, worth over PLN 205 million, completed in 2017, allowed, for example, the shutdown of the sulfuric acid plant and the replacement of the ammonia plant with a hermetic scrubber.
- For us caring for the environment is not only an obligation resulting from legal provisions and EU directives, but above all, a responsibility for our families, neighbours and subsequent generation- informs Wojciech Koszuta, CEO of ArcelorMittal Poland. - Of course, changes in the industrial concept of our plants also limited our impact over these two decades. E.g. today in Krakow we have two processing plants here: the most modern hot rolling mill in Europe and a cold rolling mill with a galvanizing and organic coating line in which we are still investing. The current value of the projects is almost PLN 100 million - he adds.
Good cooperation drives technological change
Łukasiewicz –Silesian Institute of Technology in Gliwice (Łukasiewicz – GIT), formerly the Institute of Ferrous Metallurgy (IMŻ), has been supporting changes in production processes with its knowledge for many years, participating in the development of innovative low-emission technologies in the company's unites. The Institute performed research and development work in a project concerning the development of a breakthrough technology for purifying blast furnace gas. - ArcelorMittal Poland's intensive activities aimed at reducing the impact on the environment allowed for the implementation of the so-called Best Available Techniques BAT in the primary operations area. Examples include the use of fine-grained fuels in the blast furnace process, waste heat recovery or the use of hybrid filters in sinter plant - says Ph.D. Eng Marian Niesler from Łukasiewicz – GIT.
ArcelorMittal Poland also cooperates with the Institute of Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Zabrze. - Measurements and monitoring carried out by the institute on the company's premises and in the area of their influence show significant changes in the scale and range of the installation's impact. ArcelorMittal Poland is a permanent partner of the Institute, which supports the development of new technologies and methods for examining the impact of industrial facilities on the environment - says Dr. Eng. Krzysztof Klejnowski, head of the Air Protection Department of IPIŚ PAN in Zabrze.
- Our generation came to be responsible for thefastest development leap in Poland in its over 1,000-year history - one of the key driving forces of this leap was the steel industry, and ArcelorMittal Poland definitely played the greatest role here. 20 years have already passed: difficult and challenging years, such as the 2008 crisis, and at the same time years that have been used perfectly by this company. The best proof of this is the huge amount of funds invested in the latest installations and processes, including those related to environmental and climate protection - summarizes Mirosław Motyka, president of the management board of Polish Steel Association.
