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SOME ASPECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENERGY-INTENSIVE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

R. Prusak

Abstract

Starting from the seventies of the last century, action programs have been the basis for European environmental policy. They are not binding for member states, but determine the directions of policy development in this area. The seventh program includes a vision for 2050 and main purposes are: a good quality of citizen?s life, nothing wasted in the economy, restored biodiversity and low-emission growth. The changes taking place in the last thirty years in Poland resulting from the systemic transformation, the integration process and the directions of current European Union policy have forced far-reaching changes, including organizational, technological, proprietary and economic changes. These changes within the iron and steel industry were implemented taking into account environmental problems. In the iron and steel industry, the dominant types of waste are: metallurgical slag, scale and mill scale, dust and sludges from flue gas treatment, and dross. Iron and steel works use installations in their production process, whose operation due to the type and scale of environmental impact requires obtaining the so-called integrated permit. The main purpose of this article is to show the specific situation of the steel industry in Poland. The carried out restructuring processes have contributed to the fact that currently the steelworks meet all the requirements set out in BAT. Steel-related issues should be considered in a broader global context. On the one hand, the metallurgy uses black electricity, which is the specificity of the Polish market. On the other hand, it produces products that in other industries allow to achieve goals related to sustainable development. In consequence the ecological balance should be considered in terms of the whole life cycle of the product.

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