CSN’s Recyclables Warehouse: a relevant practice of environmental sustainability

Among the many environmental sustainability practices carried out by CSN, the Recyclables Warehouse, in Volta Redonda-RJ, deserves to be highlighted. The site receives the materials discarded by the Production, Maintenance and Support areas, with the responsibility of storing them, separating them according to environmental legislation and disposing them correctly, with maximum recycling efficiency.

The warehouse evaluates the disposal of waste in three different ways. In the first one, the internal reuse of materials discarded in Production is privileged, for better internal use. In the second, the materials that, after segregation and processing, can be marketed with greater added value are identified. And the third way is the destination of the materials, which are only destined to licensed suppliers for an environmentally correct disposal.

Located at the Presidente Vargas Plant, the warehouse has achieved significant changes in its production and revenue indicators since the creation of the Recyclables Management in 2016. Management started to manage more similar warehouses in other CSN Group plants, generating more value for the Company, with greater sustainable results for the environment. From 2016 to 2020, sales increased by 146%, reaching, last year, the mark of approximately 10,000 tons/year of managed materials in all.

“The Recyclables Warehouse seeks alternatives for the sustainable use of scrap and residues and to avoid as much as possible that they are unnecessarily destined. The team is always looking for technologies to turn the material into a new raw material, such as electric cables, spray cans and aluminum wires, which are processed in our warehouse and later returned to the company’s production process”, explains Daira Rodrigues, Recyclables manager.