Worldwide, there is an increasing emphasis on environmental issues and the steel industry is under intense scrutiny. The emissions from integrated steel mills, especially sinter plants and coke ovens, are a particular concern. As a member of the global community, Midrex along with its parent company, Kobe Steel, recognizes the importance of the environment and the limits to natural resources. Through the years we have been proactive in reducing the environmental impact of our iron and steelmaking processes. 

Today the focus is on avoiding pollution rather than controlling and treating it, with a goal of zero emissions and waste. Steelmakers cannot continue to landfill wastes and treat gaseous emissions at the "end of the pipe." Most MIDREX® Direct Reduction Plants are designed for 100 percent recycle of process gases and water.

Reducing energy use goes hand-in-hand with environmental benefits because it automatically leads to lower emissions. In the US it now takes about one-half the energy to produce a ton of steel as it did in 1975. State-of-the-art MIDREX Plants are extremely energy efficient, with natural gas consumptions as low as 2.3 net Gcal/t DRI.

MIDREX Plants are designed to minimize air, water, and noise pollution. Emission levels for the MIDREX® Process meet all applicable 1998 World Bank standards. Carbon dioxide emissions are becoming a concern and in this regard, the MIDREX Plant/EAF route to steelmaking has an advantage versus the traditional blast furnace/BOF route. In some cases, a MIDREX Plant/EAF facility has only one-third the carbon emissions per ton of steel as a BF/BOF complex.

Another environmental issue is the disposal of metal-bearing wastes, both ferrous and non-ferrous. Integrated steel facilities and mini-mills are finding it more and more difficult to dispose of wastes from iron and steelmaking processes. These wastes include iron oxide screenings, mill scale, and baghouse dust. In addition, there are millions of tons of metal-bearing waste materials stockpiled around the world from various mining and processing operations. With the commercialization of the FASTMET® Process, there is now a cost-effective means of dealing with these wastes. There are now three FASTMET Plants in Japan treating steel mill wastes, and Midrex and Kobe Steel are discussing similar projects with many clients.

A recent report prepared for Environment Canada noted the environmental benefits of MIDREX Technologies: “It was estimated that the BAT plant [MIDREX Plant] would emit 24 percent less CO₂ and at least 24 percent less TPM, NOx, SOx, and VOCs than a conventional integrated plant.” Further, the report recommended the FASTMET Process for recycling steel mill wastes.

Midrex will continue to devote significant efforts to reducing the environmental impact of MIDREX processes and technologies and developing solutions for the treatment of waste materials.