Waste stewardship

EVRAZ operations inevitably entail the generation of waste, such as barren rock, spent ore, and tailings left over from the processing of ore and concentrates. Our ultimate goal is to reduce the amount of waste we produce and to manage it in a rational and non-hazardous way. We first seek to minimise waste at source by improving technological processes and enhancing the quality of our products. Alternatively, we can reuse some waste types in further operations, e.g. steelmaking, land rehabilitation, road or dam constructions, and heating. Waste that was not utilised in current operations is being safely stored to become a production site later. Under no circumstances do we incinerate or store waste outside of special facilities, in line with applicable legislation and the EVRAZ Fundamental Environmental Requirements.

Total non-mining waste and by-product generated by EVRAZ companiesThe figure comprises data on EVRAZ ZSMK (incl. Evrazruda), EVRAZ NTMK, EVRAZ KGOK, Raspadskaya Coal Company, Mezhegeyugol Coal Company, Evraz Caspian Steel, Evraz Palini e Bertoli, EVRAZ Vanady Tula, Evraz Stratcor, Inc., EVRAZ Nikom, a.s, EVRAZ Inc. NA, EVRAZ Inc. NA Canada. in 2018 amounted to 7.95 million tonnes.

Under EVRAZ five-year environmental goals we are required to recycle 95% of non-mining waste and by-products each year. In 2018 this rate amounted to 111.3%, as waste was recycled from old waste dumps, which is 6.6% more than in 2017 due to the increasing volumes of waste recycling at EVRAZ NTMK. In 2016, waste recycling rate was 120.1% and its visible drop in the next years was caused by reduction in the processing of previously disposed waste at EVRAZ ZSMK. The sale of the old heap, where the previously formed and disposed wastes were located, has curtailed the historical ecological footprint of EVRAZ. However, this makes it impossible for EVRAZ companies to reuse the recyclable wastes stored there. The recycling of previously disposed of metallurgical slag and materials allows EVRAZ to maintain the recycling rate at higher than 100%.

The Group uses non-hazardous mining waste for the purposes of land rehabilitation and to build dams and roads; in 2018, 26.7% (62 million tonnes) of waste was reused in these ways.