Making steel more sustainable

Steel is a vital component in the country’s infrastructure development, but steelmaking has an environmental footprint and requires natural resources. Our challenge is to produce the steel the world needs while minimising its environmental impacts and ensuring that we contribute to global efforts to tackle climate change and other environmental concerns.

We do not yet have all the answers, but we are continually investing in resources to find them. At the same time we are working hard to ensure that our environmental impact is as low as possible on all indicators. We are aware that environmental compliance is one of our biggest business risks.

Systems to manage our environmental impact

ArcelorMittal South Africa is governed by the global ArcelorMittal environmental policy. The group has directed that all production facilities comply with ISO 14001, an internationally recognised standard for environmental management systems. During the year the group also launched the ArcelorMittal energy policy and energy management system. These cover every aspect of how the group purchases, uses and monitors energy, from technology upgrades to the integration of energy efficiency priorities into our equipment design. We also follow the principles of ArcelorMittal South Africa’s safety, health and environmental (SHE) policy, which is aligned with the group’s environmental policy.

Highlights on the environmental front during recent years include the completion of the new dust extraction unit at Vereeniging Works, the launch of the zero effluent discharge project at Newcastle Works and our ongoing engagement with various stakeholder groups on environmental issues.

  Environmental Policy