Bluescope Steel
 

Illawarra fly bridgeEnvironment Overview

COMMITTED TO IMPROVING OUR ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE

BlueScope Steel is committed to continually improving our environmental footprint. 

We will achieve this through:

  • Fostering and promoting a continuous improvement culture
  • Capital investment to maintain and improve our equipment and facilities
  • Robust systems to manage our responsibilities

Even in difficult times, our commitment to caring for the environment remains strong, and the performance of a number of BlueScope sites has been recognised by external bodies:

  • BlueScope Thailand received an Excellent Environmental Governance Award from the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT).
  • Steelscape Rancho was awarded by Inland Empire Utilities Agency for water discharge accomplishments
  • Western Port awarded state finalist (Waste Reduction) in the Sustainable Communities competition.
  • Lysaght Sarawak (Malaysia) won two awards; the National Prime Minister's Award for Small and Medium Enterprise, and the Prime Minister's Award for Environmental Performance.

We manage our environmental risks and impacts through the use of a framework we call LAWWNE, which examines and seeks to:

  • reduce our environmental impact on Land, Air, and Water,
  • reduce generation of Waste and Noise
  • minimise our use of Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Through the use of this framework we also seek to conserve scarce resources by reusing and recycling material.

We are committed to monitoring and publicly reporting on our progress. Public reporting takes place through our participation in independent external reporting initiatives, such as the Australian National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System (NGERS), the National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) and the international Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and through initiatives such as this Community, Safety and Environment (CSE) Report.

This Report provides comprehensive information about BlueScope Steel and the environment, including governance and policy arrangements, and performance measures.

Raw Steel Production

a return TO MORE normal operating conditions

BlueScope’s last CSE report covered the 2009 financial year – a period that will be known for the greatest downturn in global industrial output in post-war history. The 2010 financial year has seen a return to more normal operating conditions.

Generally absolute levels of environmental impact (such as water, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions) have returned to historically normal levels, while associated production intensities have improved.

However, business conditions have remained challenging, and after the completion of a number of very large capital investment projects in FY2009, the company’s focus in the last 12 months has been on operational changes and improvements to maximise the performance of our existing assets.