Air Pollution from Global Steel Industry

An International Benchmarking of Criteria Air Pollutants Intensities

Air pollution contributes to a wide variety of adverse health effects. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), exposure to criteria air pollutants can cause a variety of respiratory health effects, including inflammation of the lining of the lungs, reduced lung function, and respiratory symptoms, increased susceptibility to respiratory infection, premature mortality, aggravation of cardiovascular disease, decreased lung function growth, exacerbation of allergic symptoms, neurodevelopmental effects such as lowered IQ and behavioral problems, reduction in the capacity of the blood to carry oxygen, thereby decreasing the supply of oxygen to tissues and organs such as the heart, and many other negative health effects.

In addition to being one of the most energy-intensive industries, iron and steel manufacturing also involves processing raw materials that typically contain heavy metals and cause dust emissions. In addition, its heavy dependence on fossil fuels (especially on coal) as the primary source of energy causes iron and steel production to be one of the major air polluting industries. This report focuses on comparing the criteria air pollutants emissions intensities for the steel industry in selected countries.

The aim of the international benchmarking is to offer a means of comparing the performance of a given industry across countries. Benchmarking can also be used to estimate the potential for the abatement of air pollutants through the implementation of pollution control technologies. At the national level, benchmarking of criteria air pollutants emissions intensities can help policymakers prioritize abatement of specific criteria air pollutants and design policies for the curtailment of their emissions.

In this study, we performed the benchmarking for each of the four major criteria air pollutants (Sulfur dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen oxide (NOx), Particulate matter (PM), and non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC)) emitted from the production of steel in 12 countries/regions. We have considered both direct and indirect sources of emissions i.e., onsite emissions related to process and fuel combustion in steel plants (direct emissions) and offsite emissions associated with electricity use by steel plants (indirect emissions). Emissions related to the rest of the steel value chain are beyond the scope of this project.

Our results show that amongst the criteria air pollutants analyzed in this study, sulfur dioxide (SO2) was the highest emitted criteria air pollutant from the steel industry globally, whereas the NMVOCs are the lowest emitted criteria air pollutants from this industry (Figure 1). Although the shares of direct emissions vary for each criteria air pollutant and country, the majority of emissions of criteria air pollutants can be characterized as direct emissions that happen onsite at steel plants and affect local communities near these plants. To provide a sense of scale, we have also compared the global steel industry’s criteria air pollutants emissions with EU-27’s total emissions in 2019 in Figure 1. The SO2 emissions from the global steel industry in 2019 were 300% higher than the overall total SO2 emissions of the entire EU-27 region. Emissions of NOx from the global steel industry were 63% lower than the EU-27’s overall NOx emissions in 2019. The PM emissions of the global steel industry were 3% higher than the overall PM emissions from the EU-27 region in 2019. The NMVOC emissions from the global steel industry in 2019 were 91% lower than NMVOC emissions from EU-27 region.

Steel industries from Ukraine, China and Russia have the highest emission intensities for almost all criteria air pollutants analyzed in this study. Steel industries from the United States, Sweden, Belgium and Austria have the lowest emission intensities for most criteria air pollutants. This can be primarily explained by the share of electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking in countries, fuel mix of the steel industry and uptake of pollution control technologies. Figure 2 shows SO2 emissions intensity of steel industry for countries studied in 2019. Similar figures for NOx, PM, and NMVOC emissions can be found in chapter 4 of the report. Other factors influencing criteria air pollutants emissions in the steel industry are explained in chapter 5 of this report.

Industrial manufacturing facilities such as steel plants are often located close to low-income, disadvantaged communities exposing them to significant pollution. For example, in the United States, manufacturing generated 89% of all chemical waste in the country including 285 thousand tons of criteria air pollutants and over 40 thousand tons of hazardous waste from cement production according to Toxics Release Inventory data maintained by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Lowering or eliminating criteria air pollutants can help mitigate the health risk and improve the quality of life for the communities located close to steel plants.

In view of the projected continuing increase in absolute steel production and the need for reduction in pollution emissions, future reductions in criteria air pollutant emissions will require a combination of adoption of pollution control technologies in steel plants as well as in the power sector, efficiency improvement for fuel consumption and electrification of the steel industry. Stricter air pollution control regulations and their enforcement for the steel industry are needed in China and other countries with high criteria air pollutant intensities to ensure the reduction of these emissions from the steel industry in these countries. This will result in cleaner and safer air for the people and the environment in these countries.

To read the full report and see complete results and analysis of this new study, Download the full report from the link above.

Interested in data and decarbonization studies on the global steel industry? Check out our list of steel industry publications on this page.