The CSN rigorously follows the waste hierarchy outlined in the National Solid Waste Policy, prioritizing the reuse, recycling, coprocessing, and proper disposal of waste. There is strict control for hazardous waste. Each operational unit has specific procedures for correct monitoring, segregation, and storage. The company conducts regular environmental audits to ensure legal compliance in waste disposal and maintains performance indicators, such as rates of reuse and safe disposal of hazardous waste.
Waste Management
In 2024, 96% of all waste was directed to reuse, recycling, or commercialization for use in other production chains (3.8 million tons).
Solutions for innovation in the disposal and utilization of steel slag from steelmaking
The steel slag beneficiation process involves the magnetic recovery of metallic materials, which are then returned to the steelmaking process. The challenge is to study available market solutions for the disposal and use of the non-metallic fraction, known as steel aggregate. We are working on the following fronts:
Donation to city halls
Commercialization as an aggregate for paving roads
Commercialization of Type C Slag
Return of scrap metal for the electric furnace process in the steel industry
We continue to look for new ways to use them, which are still under evaluation, such as:
Rail ballast test
Studies for the use of slag for making concrete materials
Wet Mining Plant – a plant that benefits type C slag, recovering scrap and generating fine final aggregate for commercialization in the agroindustry as a soil amendment
Commercialization as an aggregate for paving roads
Part of the material is temporarily stored in an external yard at the Usina Presidente Vargas, called the Slag Beneficiation Yard. The product consists mainly of calcium, magnesium, and aluminum silicates, found in natural aggregates. Additionally, CSN Inova, together with the steelmaking, engineering, R&D, and cement areas, continues to seek partnerships with brazilian and foreign institutions that present new and existing solutions that can offer a more suitable and sustainable destination for steel slag aggregate.