The  Steel Division spends about 160 million euros a year on the operation of environmental facilities. During the past twenty years about 600 million euros have been invested in facilities for environmental protection at the Linz site alone.

The significant reduction of emissions into the air demonstrates that these investments have paid off: At the Linz site, for example, dust or fine dust emissions have already been reduced by 80 % since the 1990s- and despite a 25 % increase in capacity in production in the course of the “Linz 2010” development program, these emissions will be reduced by another approximately two-thirds by the end of 2007.

The annual Environmental Statement for the Linz and the Steyrling site provides detailed information on our environmental performance and shows our ambitious goals and a comprehensive package of measures for the future. In fact, the current environmental program, for example, consists of not less than 143 single measures which have one thing in common: a continuous reduction of environmental impact.

In order to comply with legal requirements and to carry out continuous improvements in all areas, a standardized environmental management system according to EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) and ISO 14001 has already been installed in 1999. Every year independent external auditors monitor this management system in detail.

This management system makes it possible to record and regularly evaluate the environmental impact of all the relevant manufacturing processes and necessary actions derive from this analysis. Preventive measures are taken in order to minimize potential risks. Internal audits check the efficiency of the system and identify the necessary corrective or preventive actions, which are carried out by using structured measure plans.

The performance and output of our environmental management system has also gained recognition by the public: In 2000 and 2002 our Environmental Statement was awarded the AERA (Austrian Envionmental Reporting Award) and in 2002 voestalpine Stahl received the EMAS Award for its marketing activities in Eco-Management and its Audit Scheme.