Since 1915 the steel industry has been an essential part of Australia and its economy.  In August 2011, BlueScope announced it was restructuring its Australian operations and would largely exit the Australian export business.

Key features of the restructure included:

• Shut-down of No.6 Blast Furnace at Port Kembla, with annual production reduced to 2.6 million tonnes.
• Closure of No. 4 Coke Ovens Battery, No. 3 Basic Oxygen Steelmaking (BOS) furnace and No. 1 slab caster.
• Closure of the Hot Strip Mill and mothballing of Metal Coating Line No.5 at Western Port.

The effect of the closures on the Company's environment footprint has been profound. Absolute levels of environmental impact such as emissions, and energy and water consumption have been reduced; while intensity based metrics have increased.

BlueScope  manage environmental risks and impacts through the use of a LAWWNE framework, which seeks to:

•  Reduce our environmental impact on Land, Air, and Water
•  Reduce generation of Waste and Noise
•  Minimise our use of Energy and the generation of greenhouse gas emissions

Through the use of this framework we also seek to conserve scarce resources by reusing and recycling material.

BlueScope Reports its LAWWNE performance in the annual Community, Safety and Environment (CSE) Report. In the year 2011-2012;

BlueScope produced 4.7 million tonnes of raw steel in its steelmaking facilities.

Non-compliances are statutory non compliances with environmental licensing requirements

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Green house gas intensity: 2.5 tonnes CO2e per tonne of raw steel

Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (indirect) emissions

BlueScope strives to progressively reduce its emissions and continues to play an active role in the global steel industry’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. BlueScope are also committed to reducing the greenhouse gas intensity of our products and improving the energy efficiency of our operations. Carbon, in the form of processed metallurgical coal (coke) and pulverised coal, is the reducing agent used to convert iron ore to iron in a blast furnace.  Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are generated as unavoidable by-products of this process. The laws of chemistry, physics and thermodynamics dictate the amount of carbon used in the blast furnace. Current carbon usage is close to theoretical minimum levels due to our efficient furnace operations and practices.

For more information see the full CSE Report for 2011-2012, http://csereport2012.bluescopesteel.com

For more information on National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER), http://www.cleanenergyregulator.gov.au

What else is embodied in steel supplied by BlueScope? See more of BlueScope steels responsible supplier credentials here: Is BlueScope a responsible sustainable supplier?