In connection with the expansion of AvestaPolarit’s Tornio Works, investments of more than EUR 100 million will be made to reduce the environmental impact of operations during 2000-2004. This means that measures aimed at reducing environmental impact and emissions and
improving materials handling account for approximately one-tenth of the overall investment. Among the more significant major environmental investments are the dust extraction and flue gas cleaning plant at the melting shop and the acid recovery systems and water purification plant at the cold rolling mill. Major investments have also been made in enclosed water systems and to increase the degree of water recycling in production processes.
These investments mean that steel production will be more than doubled at the same time as emissions are reduced compared to earlier levels. As a result of these investments emissions to water have already been reduced significantly since the end of the 1990s and are now well below permissible levels. For example, emissions to water of chrome and nickel from the ferrochrome plant and melting shop have fallen by 60–80% compared to the levels of two to three years ago and are now on average only 2-3 kilos per day.
