June 19, 2024

Organized by the Technical Faculty of the BU in Bor, in Sokobanja, the three-days EcoTER'24 conference (Ecological Truth and Environmental Research) was officially opened Sokobanja, on July 19. The conference was attended by numerous experts, researchers and industry representatives from the country, region and world, who gathered to exchange academic and practical knowledge and experience in the field of environmental protection.

HBIS Serbia, as a platinum donor of this conference, had the honor to present the company, investments and measurable improvements in the fields of environmental protection, energy efficiency and savings to an expert audience, after commissioning of the three new production lines in 2022.
Environmental protection is a regional and global challenge and continuous steps are needed in order to achieve significant results, said Ljubica Drake, general manager of environmental protection at HBIS Serbia. She emphasized the importance of joint work and cooperation between higher education institutions - faculties and the economy, because this is how answers to numerous current questions in this field can be found, and scientific gatherings such as this conference make a significant contribution to this. She reminded those present that environmental protection is the responsibility of society, but of each individual as well.

„Our new production lines, which have been operating for two years, already have brought immediate improvements in environmental protection and energy efficiency. Thanks to the Blast Furnace Gas Holder, we are now fully returning BF gas to production, the new Walking Beam Furnace at the Hot Strip Mill uses it in 100%, and the improvements brought by the operation of the New Sinter Line can also be seen at the Automatic Measuring Station in Radinac, which we donated to the Environmental Protection Agency in order to have quality monitoring. We have continuous meters on eight emitters in the factory, and we have installed alarms on them that warn the operators in the event that the half-hour limit values of the emission may be exceeded. With this and other measures we took in the factory, such as road maintenance, control of the unloading of raw materials and ores, the quality of the ambient air was significantly improved, and the annual reduction of dust expressed in kilograms per ton is drastic. Last year, the annual value of PM 10 particles was for the first time below the legal limit of up to 50 micrograms per cubic meter, amounting to 36.85 micrograms/m3. For the project of installing alarms on continuous meters, we received support and an award from UNDP. Also our company obtained an integrated permit for the Smederevo location since August 2022," said Ljubica Drake and concluded: "I invite you all to visit our factory, to see for yourselves how its modernization contributes to the environment, and to present you with our future plans. HBIS Serbia is proud of its role in improving environmental standards and working on sustainable solutions that will contribute to a better and healthier future for everyone."

On behalf of the Organizing Committee, Prof. Dr. Ana Radojević presented Ljubica Drake with a Certificate of appreciation for the contribution and participation of HBIS Serbia at the 31st, EcoTER'24 conference.

The students and organizers of the meeting were also greeted by Prof. Dr. Dejan Tanikić, Dean of the Technical Faculty in Bor. He emphasized that he is very proud of the long tradition of this conference, its academic level and the valuable exchange of experiences contributed by all the participants and donors of the EcoTER conference.