Steel industry waste management

Molten Slag Reclamation resulting from current production of steel Reclamation Of Old Slag Piles formed throughout the years or ages Ireneusz Łazarski Admin and finance director and a board member of Alexander Mill Service International SP. z o.o. (AMSI) – a company with a US capital, operating in Poland 11 years in the following fields

Slag is a main by-product (waste) of steel production. Slag and other solid waste make about 15-20% of the total steel industry production. Assuming the steel industry in Poland produces about 10 MLN Ton of steel per year, there is about 2 MLN TON of new waste produced. If that waste was not processed, every year this waste would need at least 20 ha of space to store. As a result of slag processing: old piles are disappearing and the land occupied earlier by waste may be reclaimed for other purposes, new piles of waste are not growing

As in USA and Western Europe old slag piles have been eliminated and the slag currently produced is eliminated, the problem of slag is still to be solved in Eastern Europe. There is still a lot to do in Poland in this matter and in Ukraine, Romania, Belarus, Russia

Not going very much to technical details of the slag processing, as a result of the processing it is received: Iron scrap which is a raw material used again by steel factories various road aggregates used for construction (roads, parking, pavements, etc) After processing of slag no waste is left. And our Company produces no waste (except from that arising from usage of machinery - used oils, filters, tyres, burning fuel etc) Since AMSI deals with management of waste I will shortly describe the basics regulations in this matter

The waste management regulations in Poland have become quite tight lately. This is due to accession of Poland and adjustment its environmental regulations to EU requirements. Currently this matter is regulated by the following acts: 1.Act of 27 April 2001 on environment protection 2.Act of 27 April 2001 on waste 3.Act of 11 May 2001 on packaging and packaging waste 4.Act of 11 May 2001 on responsibilities of businesses in managing some wastes and on product and deposit fees

The basic act concerning this field of activity is the act on waste. This act regulates the general rules on waste management and provides basic definitions of waste, producer of waste, possessor reclamation, recycling, dumping, storaging, etc., and: classification of waste (categories) substances and properties of waste, which make the waste dangerous processes of reclamation and neutralization of waste waste management which means collecting, transporting, reclamation, recycling, neutralization and supervising all these processes categories of waste that can be used internally or by any individual person quantities of waste that may not be recorded and reported

The general rules on waste management are: Avoid, and if not possible, minimize waste production in any activity Assure reclamation or recycling whenever possible Neutralize all waste that may not be reclaimed (recycled) Minimize negative effect of waste on environment Waste should be at first reclaimed or neutralized at the place of its production Waste should be selected and may not be mixed with dangerous waste Waste management policy should be properly planned, coordinated and controlled on various levels (country, district, company) All waste movement has to be properly recorded and reported

Any producer has to prepare a waste management program and obtain a permit from local authorities if it produces: more than 1 ton of hazardous waste more than 5 ton of other than hazardous waste The waste management program must be approved by the county or district authorities

Any producer of waste may contract the waste managing services with any company. The producer of waste may release himself from its responsibility if the contracted company is properly authorized to handle the waste. An authorized company in waste handling means that it has a permit to process the waste (reclaim or neutralize). Such a permit includes: types of waste to be dealt with quantities of waste to be handled description of place for running such an activity place and ways of storing detailed description of processes of reclamation or neutralization to be applied

Then such a company (the possessor of waste) in case of steel waste may: take over all responsibilities of a waste producer (all responsibilities in waste managing) as defined in release the waste producers from environmental fees deliver reclaimed raw material to a waste producer at a competitive price produce road aggregates, which is an alternative for natural aggregates release land for reclamation prevent from growing new piles of waste save the cost of handling waste for the steel industry

As a conclusion we may state that strengthening the environmental regulations on waste handling expands the need for waste management services provided by specialized entities. The companies have a choice – either pay high environmental fees or fines, or pay for services to a specialized company. The regulations in the environment protection have been adjusted to the EU requirements and are not more severe than in other countries. In order to preserve our environmrent we must obey them. However, there is still a lot to do in proper execution of all the environmental regulations, because it looks that still some of the waste producing companies do not see a big need for following them.

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