Iron and steel slag is effectively used in cement, roadbed materials, concrete aggregate, materials for various sorts of civil engineering work etc.
Cement manufactured using blast-furnace slag accounts for more than 20% of Japan's total cement output.
Blast-furnace slag cement obviates the need for crushing and burning which are required in the manufacture of ordinary cement, thereby reducing fuel consumption by 43% and CO2 emissions by 41%.
Source: Slag Association
Note: prerequisite for the rough evaluations of CO2 emission reduction: 312 kg-CO2/t of cement produced
For the last thirty years the steel industry has taken various steps to promote the forestation of its steelworks and their surrounding areas. Particular emphasis has been placed on the planting and seeding of locally indigenous trees in order to take advantage of the inherent environmental protection provided by natural forests and ultimately to create a buffer of greenery around the steelworks.
The green tracts of land, totaling about 1,500 hectares, found at the steelworks of integrated steelmakers, are carefully controlled to preserve their function. This greenery is capable of absorbing 40,000 tons of CO2, as a sink, assuming that a broadleaf forest has a CO2 absorption capacity of 26 tons/ha. per year*. The steel industry will continue to encourage the expansion of tree planting to create borders of greenery surrounding every steelworks.
Source:＊ Subsidy research by Steel industry foundation for the advancememt of environmental protection technology "Research on Environmental Purification Functions of Environmental-preservation Forests at Steelworks and Plants"
