Capital Works completed

The smelter has implemented many on-site initiatives to help reduce emissions. These have contributed significantly to the reduction of blood lead levels, both among workers and within the community itself.

Initiatives include the enclosing of the blast furnace, constant monitoring of air quality both within and outside the site, plus numerous smaller but still effective changes that make the minimizing of emissions and wind borne dust Nyrstar’s top priority.

To date, in excess of 350,000 trees and shrubs have been planted on the site.

And in 2008 a Corporate Environmental Audit recognised the considerable progress made in improving our environmental performance at the smelter.

Enclosure of the blast furnace

The key component was the installation of the baghouse, which acts like a huge vacuum cleaner, capturing fume before it enters the environment.  The project began in July 2006 and was completed in August 2007 at a cost of $9.5 million.

Slag fumer projects

One of the major projects has been to make maximum use of the available gas handling systems and to remove any sources of instability that can give rise to emissions.

Coal injection system replacement

This project began in July 2006 and was completed in September 2007 at a cost of just under $7 million. The new system reduced the variability of the coal injection feed rate with a resulting decrease in the generation of fugitive emissions.

Planting

In excess of 350,000 trees, plants and shrubs have been planted around the site to minimise dust movement.