The Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) would soon provide secured landfill facility for disposal of hazardous wastes generated in the plant, the officials stated.
Notably, BSP which had been taking several key steps during the past years to preserve the environment has already eliminated use of CFC-11 by replacing it by li-Br based chiller unit, way before the target date of January 1, 2010.
Procurement of Carbon Tetra Chloride (CTC) has been stopped and use of Trichloroethylene has been started, officials stated. Two projects under the aegis of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have been implemented in BSP for the elimination of use of CTC. Procurement of halon based fire extinguishers have also been replaced by FM 200 based units.
All industrial package air conditioners using CFC-12 were also replaced in a phased manner by units using CFC free refrigerant. The plant has brought down the use of ozone depleting substances to 3.05 tonnes in 2014 from about 10 tonnes a decade ago.
The ozone depleting potential, a true measure of consumption of ozone depleting substances, has also been reduced to 0.167 tonnes by BSP in 2014, which is amongst lowest in industries.
Under the ongoing expansion/ modernization projects, BSP has taken due care to fully comply with the Montreal protocol in procurement and installation of, air-conditioning/ refrigeration units. It is also ensured that, the fire protective equipment being procured is also fully complying with the Montreal protocol.
BSP is also installing Online Effluent Quality Monitoring System (EQMS) along with data up-linking to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board (CECB).
The system would be installed for Water Management Department of the Bhilai Steel Plant, officials stated. It may be recalled that the Bhilai Steel Plant received the Prime Minister’s trophy for the Best Performing Integrated Steel Plant (ISP) in the country for the year 2011-12 at Rourkela in Odisha.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented the Trophy for Best Integrated Steel Plant (ISP) in the country to the then SAIl Chairman CS Verma and Chief Executive Officer, BSP, S Chandrasekaran in presence of Governor of Odisha, SC Jamir, Union Minister for Mines & Steel, Narendra Singh Tomar and Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik.
With this, BSP achieved the unparalleled distinction of being the only steel plant in the country, public or private, to have been selected to receive this pinnacle recognition for an unprecedented 11 times out of 21 times that the award has been given away so far. This speaks volumes about the commitment and dedication of the workforce of Bhilai Steel Plant, officials stated.