Sidenor 2020 Corporate Report

49 Reuse and recovery We work to get the most out of the resources we use in order to lengthen their useful life or benefit from them. To this end, we identify opportunities throughout the entire steel production process or conduct studies in collaboration with universities, research centres and industries. Three examples are: Water Water is a key resource in steel production; it is used as a cooling agent for production equipment as well as for the product. At Sidenor, we have been working for years to ensure a preventive and responsible use of this resource, implementing the three lines of action considered by the European Union to be the best available environmental techniques in our processes: A. Separating direct cooling (dirty) water circuits from indirect (clean) ones. B. Closing circuits so as to be able to reuse most of the water. In some of our factories, the level of reuse currently exceeds 95%. C. Optimising water purification systems, which are implemented to avoid polluting the receiving environment and to reuse it internally. Water collection Uses in the process Water purification Water discharges Water collection The first steps in water management were based on purification only 1 Now, the objective is focused on reuse, reducing consumption and discharge 2 Direct cooling processes: continuous casting, rolling mill, etc. SEPARATION OF CIRCUITS Water purification CIRCUITS CLOSING Indirect cooling processes: oven panels, moulds, etc. Water is heated Cooling towers Water drags the dirt Water ready for reuse Water ready for reuse Purging discharges from purified water deposits