World Environment Day Promotion

Pop

BlueScope
Environmental Message

At BlueScope Steel, we take our environmental responsibilities very seriously.

Many of our major production facilities - for example, at Port Kembla in New South Wales, Western Port in Victoria and Glenbrook in New Zealand - are located in visually appealing and environmentally sensitive areas.

BlueScope Steel's sites are spread throughout Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Asia Pacific region, North America and China, and operate under many different regulatory environments, licence requirements and legal jurisdictions.

We are aware of our responsibilities in caring for the environment and place great importance on the way we manage the impact of our operations and products on our communities.

We are committed to responsible environmental management and continuous improvement in our environmental performance and seek to meet and exceed community expectations.

Our aim is to continuously reduce the impact of our activities on the environment, to ensure the impact is neither serious nor long lasting, and through this, be supported by the communities in which we operate.

Although licence requirements continue to become more stringent, BlueScope Steel aims for continuous improvement in this area, seeking to reduce licence exceedances by at least 20 per cent every year. We have achieved our targets in recent years and in 2003/2004, reduced non-compliances by more than 30 per cent at our Port Kembla and New Zealand Steelworks.

We have continued to focus on ensuring our systems are robust and that environmental responsibilities are managed. The international standard of ISO 14001 provides a framework for the Company's environmental management system. All BlueScope Steel's major operating facilities are now accredited to this standard.

Our Port Kembla and Western Port Steelworks have undertaken a series of Environmental Improvement Plans, in consultation with the relevant state governments' Environmental Protection Authorities. Similar improvement plans have been undertaken at our New Zealand Steelworks.

These plans address environmental issues such as water efficiency and quality, air quality, waste, noise and land contamination. They have involved significant investment in pollution control equipment, education and awareness programs, site improvement plans and equipment upgrades.

BlueScope Steel has made a significant financial investment in our environmental performance. For example, at our Port Kembla Steelworks, we have invested more than $400 million in environmental improvements since 1976, and continue to spend around $50 million per year on operation and maintenance of pollution control equipment.

We continue to care for our environment and strive for improvement at all our sites. Going forward, we will particularly focus on behavioural change, through environmental awareness and education programs, to ensure all our employees are committed to environmental improvement and actively involved in following procedures, compliance auditing and reporting activities.

Each year, BlueScope Steel contributes data to Australia's National Pollutant Inventory.