Our commitment
For some time, the Alfa Acciai Group has been committed to making steel production increasingly sustainable, through an integrated approach that involves all environmental aspects, full compliance with current legislation and the ongoing search for the best technical, management and organisational solutions to make consumption more efficient.
The Alfa Acciai Group monitors energy consumption and the environmental impact of production plants, with the most significant levels generated by Alfa Acciai and Acciaierie di Sicilia, given their high production volumes and process type.
Managing materials and waste
The Group is committed to limiting its environmental impact and reducing its consumption of resources by privileging the use of recycled raw materials as much as possible.
Steel manufacture is accompanied by the production of a certain amount of waste that the Group is committed to using in other production processes, supplying the value chain of other circular economies by making the most of every material produced in the process.
Reducing the amount of waste produced is one of the Group's main objectives, which is accompanied by a series of actions that aim to optimise waste where it can't be limited, thereby encouraging recovery rather than landfilling.
The Group's achievement is impressive: 71% of waste is recovered and this is possible thanks to the Zero Waste policy embraced by the company.
Energy efficiency
Alfa Acciai's strategic priority is to continually improve its performance, including energy performance, by implementing actions to make production processes and related services more energy efficient to reduce environmental impact.
While steel mills that produce steel by melting scrap in an electric arc furnace (EAF) have a low environmental impact and produce fewer climate-changing gases (especially CO2) compared with mineral-based production, they also require significant amounts of electricity.
The companies in the Alfa Acciai Group have set themselves ambitious targets to reduce energy consumption that relies on fossil fuel sources and are committed to increasing their renewable energy sources.
In this regard, Alfa Acciai and Acciaierie di Sicilia hold ISO 50001 certification for their Energy Management System, which aims to facilitate the process to define, record and evaluate energy results, and is the best instrument for managing and implementing the company's Energy Policy.
A virtuous example of how we manage energy efficiency is the Alfa Heat Recovery plant, which has recovered heat waste since winter 2023-2024.
Managing water resources
The effective use of water is very important to the Group, which systematically monitors its water consumption and is committed to reducing waste.
Water has a crucial role in the steel production process. It is used directly for cooling during process phases (continuous casting spray and direct cooling for rolling mill products) and indirectly to reintegrate evaporated water from circuits (furnaces, rolling mills, ingot moulds and continuous casting plants).
Water consumption is reduced by implementing closed circuits, using the latest technologies, and blowing down indirect cooling circuits to replenish direct cooling circuits.
The cooling system recirculates water over 30 times before it is disposed of, and this process saves a considerable amount of this precious resource. Replenishment from wells accounts for less than 3% of plant requirements and offsets the amount that has evaporated due to cooling towers and industrial discharge. The remaining 97% of plant water requirements is continually recycled before being discharged.
Managing emissions
Decarbonisation undoubtedly represents the greatest challenge the steel industry is currently facing. The Group's main aim is to implement energy transition initiatives and processes towards more efficient, lower-impact models.
In 2022, the Group decided to quantify and declare its corporate emissions in accordance with standard UNI 14064-1, and its Corporate Carbon Footprint (CCF) was calculated with the same scope set out in the Sustainability Report.
The greenhouse gas emissions monitored and reported by the Alfa Acciai Group can be categorised as follows:
- Scope 1: direct emissions;
- Scope 2: indirect emissions associated with obtaining electricity, steam, heat or cooling;
- Scope 3: indirect emissions generated upstream or downstream of the Group's production system, which transpire from sources that it does not own or control (transport and distribution, and the disposal of goods and services after they have reached consumers).
14%
Emissions 2023 - Scope 1 CCF
27%
Emissions 2023 - Scope 2 CCF
59%
Emissions 2023 - Scope 3 CCF
SCOPE 3 emissions account for the largest proportion of the Group's carbon footprint. Thanks to the Corporate Carbon Footprint tool it has been possible to map them extensively and split them into the 4 categories set out in standard ISO 14064.
69%
Scope 3 emissions
Indirect emissions from purchased goods and services
29%
Scope 3 emissions
Indirect emissions from transport
2%
Scope 3 emissions
Indirect emissions from goods produces
0%
Scope 3 emissions
Indirect emissions from other sources
With regard to atmospheric emissions that are not climate-changing, the use of systems to continually monitor the efficiency of off-gas systems and related parameters enable high performance levels to be achieved in terms of reduction in dust leaving the stacks, even exceeding the EU expectations in BAT outcomes.
All the activities introduced, combined with the careful management of environmental systems, make it possible to keep atmospheric emissions well below the thresholds set out in the integrated environmental authorisations.
