MMK invested over RUB 52 billion in atmospheric emissions reduction since 2017
The fifth of June is World Environment Day, known in Russia as Ecologist's Day. For many years, Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) has been carrying out large-scale environmental programmes aimed at reducing the human impact on the environment.
Back in 2015, MMK adopted the Clean City strategic initiative aimed at radically improving the air quality in Magnitogorsk. By 2026, the programme envisions a reduction in emissions of hazard class 1 and 2 substances by a factor of 10 and a reduction of pollutant emissions by 20% as part of the Clean Air federal project.
The successful implementation of MMK’s chosen strategy was confirmed by the Company’s recent receipt of a certificate and a digital mark of compliance with the Regional Environmental Standard of the Chelyabinsk Region. MMK carried out extensive work to achieve compliance with the eco-standard requirements, which was aimed primarily at reducing atmospheric emissions.
From 2017 to 2023, MMK invested RUB 52.5 billion in measures to reduce emissions of pollutants into the air. The Company's emissions into the atmosphere during this period decreased by 32.5 thousand tonnes, or by 16%. A key indicator in assessing the environmental safety of production is specific emissions: in 2023, these decreased to a minimum level and amounted to 13.2 kg per tonne of steel, which marked a 17% reduction from 2017. Among the measures implemented as part of MMK's environmental programme during this period were the commissioning of three sulphur recovery units at sinter plant No. 2, the construction of gas cleaning units for the smelting process, and the launch of ten aspiration systems for blast furnaces. In addition, the construction of the new sinter plant No. 5 made it possible to decommission sinter plant No. 4 and significantly reduce the impact on the environment.
Starting from 2019, MMK has been actively building dust suppression systems for fugitive emission sources. Between 2019 and 2023, 24 dust suppression systems were put into operation at the Company’s mining, processing and coke-chemical operations, as well as in the blast furnace and sheet rolling shops. The environmental impact has been a reduction of dust emissions by 630 tonnes per year, with a dust suppression efficiency of more than 80%. The construction of dust suppression systems will continue until 2026 at the plant’s first-stage processing facilities.
The main driver of MMK’s further reduction of atmospheric emissions, including the hazardous pollutants benz(a)pyrene and formaldehyde, is the construction of coke oven battery No. 12, a project that has involved the construction of a number of environmental protection facilities. The new coke battery complex will be equipped with 28 aspiration systems, desulfurization and denitrification units for heating system emissions, as well as a biochemical water treatment unit and a closed-loop water supply system. The launch of the complex in 2024 and the subsequent decommissioning of obsolete batteries will lead to an emissions reduction of more than 11 thousand tonnes per year.
The improvement in Magnitogorsk’s air quality can already be assessed using objective data obtained from measurements taken in the city by the laboratories of the Russian Hydrometeorological Centre (Roshydromet) and MMK.
At present, the monitoring of air quality in Magnitogorsk is carried out at 11 fixed monitoring stations operated by Roshydromet and MMK, as well as at three mobile laboratories operated by MMK.
At one MMK laboratory alone – which is located at the boundary between the sanitary protection zone and the territory of the plant – around 3,000 measurements of the concentrations of 20 pollutants are carried out continuously each day, with monitoring taking place at 50 locations. Information about air quality at the boundary of the sanitary protection zone is available for residents to view online at MMK’s website.
The main element of MMK’s real-time environmental impact monitoring system is its environmental control centre. Launched at the end of 2023, the centre consolidates information from automated emission monitoring systems located at the sources. It allows for online monitoring of process parameters, identification of accidental and unauthorized emissions using machine vision technology, and analysis of pollutant dispersion in the atmosphere based on a mathematical model.
The monitoring carried out by Roshydromet shows that impressive results have been achieved in the period from 2017 to 2023. Concentrations of the main pollutants in the air in Magnitogorsk have decreased significantly: manganese by a factor of 3.9, benz(a)pyrene by a factor of 3.3, carbon monoxide by a factor of 3, particulate matter by a factor of 1.7, and formaldehyde by a factor of 1.3. Today, it is already evident that MMK’s implementation of measures under the Regional Environmental Standard and the Clean Air federal project will enable Magnitogorsk to achieve the status of a “Clean City” in 2026.