ISSF 2015 Sustainability and Safety Award Winners

issf-header-logoHong Kong, 21 May 2015 – The International Stainless Steel Forum announced that the winners of this year’s Sustainability Award is Aperam for reducing emissions to air, a project which lasted from 2005 to 2015. The Safety Award was given to Jindal Stainless for reducing carbon monoxide levels to eliminate the explosions in the dust plant.

 

The Aperam Belgium plant is located near the city of Genk, which has 65,000 inhabitants. They faced the challenge of significantly minimising dust emissions so they did not affect air quality in the local area. They have implemented an extensive action plan at three levels: operational; managerial; and communications. They also organised an Environmental Day for an open exchange with all stake holders. This allowed them to share their test results and data measurements in a transparent way. They managed to significantly reduce their emissions to air. Compared to 2006, they reduced emissions to air by 72% in 2014. Due to lower dust emissions, they have received fewer complaints from the neighbourhood in the last four years. This shows their good results and a positive and strong relationship with local residents. Finally, their efforts have resulted in Aperam obtaining a new environmental permit for their plant. The full case study can be downloaded from the worldstainless website. Click here.

 

Jindal Stainless reduced the carbon monoxide levels to eliminate explosions in the dust plant. The carbon monoxide level must be controlled to prevent the risk of explosions. The opening and closing of valves was controlled so that when the CO content in the fume gas exceeds 3%, the valve opens to the maximum to provide fresh air to the bag house. During this operation the valve temporarily halts the suction of dust. After this modification, the chance of an explosion in the bag house was eliminated. The full case study can be downloaded from the worldstainless website. Click here.

 

All entries have been printed in a book which can also be downloaded from the worldstainless website. Click here.