Water

The second pillar refers to the use of the most important natural resource on our planet: Water. The Group devotes particular attention and a lot of effort to reducing the consumption of industrial water.

The guideline that regulates the Group’s approach to this vital resource consists in the continuous search for efficiency in the recovery process of any flows still suitable for reuse, as well as in increasing the recirculation factor in the cooling down.

As far as water consumption is concerned, the reduction objectives are differentiated according to the types of plant and the concession values for pumping (from both groundwater and surface water). In general terms, the reference values reported in the documents concerning the best available techniques (Bref) in the “iron and steel” and “ferrous metal processing” sectors were taken into account , considering the lower values of the range proposed at European level.

Finally, the Group is investing more and more in the implementation of technologies based on the use of closed cycles.