Longterm commitment shows
Stainless steel is 100% recyclable, hygienic and corrosion-resistant and the environmental impacts resulting from its use are almost non-existent. On the other hand, its production – the manufacturing and reprocessing stages – do have an impact on the environment.
Our main environmental impacts
The most substantial environmental impacts resulting from the stainless steel production process are: dust and particulate emissions into the air; discharges of water from production plants; and the high levels of direct and indirect energy consumption during production. Landfill waste is also created during the production process.
Outokumpu's way to manage environmental issues
Guided by our Environmental and Corporate Responsibility Policies and Ethical Principles, Outokumpu's firm objective is to minimise the environmental burden of our operations as much as this is economically and technically feasible.
Local guidelines and environmental management systems complying with the ISO 14001 standard provide more detailed models for the Group's actions. Environmental issues are an essential part of the management systems employed in Outokumpu's plants and units, and the functioning of these systems is monitored by both internal and external audits. We also provide the relevant authorities with reports on our operations in all the countries in which we operate. At the Group level, operations are managed and best practices are applied through our environment network, whose working groups and environment committee meet once during each quarter.
Observations by PricewaterhouseCoopers
Environmental responsibility
The CR reporting system is used to consolidate unit level environmental data at group level. The production units prepare reports for local environmental authorities by separate, parallel systems. It would enhance consistency and data accuracy, if the CR reporting system was used also for local reporting needs.