September 3, 2024
On September 3, a meeting with the representatives of the local communities of Radinac, Vranovo and Ralja was held at the HBIS Serbia Company. Deputy General Director of HBIS Serbia Lianxi Wang, opened the meeting expressing gratitude for their presence and emphasizing the importance of regular meetings as part of neighborhood partnership, support and transparency in the factory's work in his addressing. He also emphasized the importance of exchanging opinions with representatives of local communities. Wang pointed out the responsibility of each individual in the factory in contributing to environmental protection within their competence.
Next, General Manager of Environmental Protection Ljubica Drake gave a presentation on the factory's current results in the field of environmental protection, including an overview of citizens' complaints and the legal verdict for the exceedance at the Steel Plant in 2021, where she clarified the details. "We are not allowed to have any half-hour value of emitted suspended matter over 100 milligrams/m3 through the whole year. Only in one case we did have a period of consecutive overruns, when the secondary dedusting failed, where it took people two and a half hours to find which bag module out of 8,500 it was. Now, with the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) permit we received in 2022, it is recognized that our production cannot be stopped without prior preparatory actions. The permit states that in such situations, production may continue for a maximum of 4 consecutive hours, and if the issue is not resolved within that time, production must be stopped. In 2021, we did not have the IPPC permit, and therefore, we did not have that option", said Ljubica Drake. She also spoke about the wall that will be built around the Ore Yard at the Sinter Plant, which would reduce emission of the dust particles into the environment by at least 75 percent.
The Executive Director for Production Vladan Mihailović reminded everyone they were working on equipment which technology was from the seventies of the last century until 2016, while today we have a new, modern plant of which the New Sinter Plant is the best in Europe, with the best environmental performance on its surroundings. Mihailović spoke about the factory's determination to follow the path of modernization and that it is an ongoing process: "HBIS decided to implement the world best possible practices. We are absolutely committed to improving the quality of the environment, reducing energy consumption, increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of our processes, and reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions at the Walking Beam Furnace.”
General Manager for Engineering and Investments Milovan Tasić presented plans related to future investment projects, both in the first phase, as well as in the second phase to follow, as being primarily environmental protection and energy efficiency projects. He reminded that the first investments in environmental protection projects worth over 300 million euros were realized in two and a half years. " Here are the corrections for clarity and grammar: "The second phase projects will focus on the Steel Mill. We will work on converter number 4, which will have a dry dedusting system, and for the first time, we will implement a tertiary dedusting system that will capture all the dust, eliminating emissions into the environment. This will be a completely new generation of converters. New projects will significantly reduce energy consumption, making it a highly energy-efficient plant. Additionally, we will build Reservoir for converter gas storage, construct a New Energy Plant that will also produce electricity for our consumers, along with a new Tuyere Hall for the blast furnace blowers," stressed Tasić.
The meeting concluded with an open discussion, allowing participants to ask questions, offer suggestions, and engage in conversations about topics important to the local communities.
HBIS Serbia remains committed to maintaining open communication with local communities, with a special focus on environmental protection and the well-being of the population.