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Home > About IPSCO > Environment
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IPSCO
is committed to being an industry leader with
respect to the environmental issues which affect it. At IPSCO we
recognize that sound environmental performance is in the best interests
of our shareholders and society.
To carry
out this commitment IPSCO undertakes many activities that include:
- implementing and
maintaining policies for proper environmental management and taking steps to ensure the policies, practices, and procedures are
operating effectively
- undertaking environmental evaluations of all operations, projects and purchases
- maintaining emergency preparedness plans, training and equipment, environmental action
plans, and systems
- undertaking ongoing environmental audits of operations
- reporting regularly to
the IPSCO Board of Directors, and
- working with the community, governmental agencies and other stakeholders to
facilitate discussion on environmental matters and to develop
scientifically sound, economic, and equitable environmental
standards and procedures, based on stable and predicable criteria.
Environmental Policy - PDF
All of IPSCO's operating facilities have received ISO 14001 certification of their environmental
management systems.
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Recyclability of Steel
 IPSCO’s
core business provides a major assist to the
environment since virtually all of its raw material is steel scrap. In
2005 the company recycled 3.5 million tons of scrap. This means that the need for mining iron ore that would have been
required to produce the same amount of virgin steel using a more
energy-intensive process isn’t required. And all this is accomplished by using materials that would
otherwise be left abandoned or placed in landfills. Fewer emissions are also created using this process but they
still must be properly controlled. See IPSCO's letter for
the recycling content of our steel (PDF).
For more information on steel recycling, see the Steel
Recycling Institute.
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 In
2002, IPSCO spent a total of $2.7 million in non-routine project
expense and capital spending on
projects designed to address environmental issues. At both its Montpelier and Mobile Steelworks it is pioneering
in the use of triboelectric or broken bag detection to continuously
monitor the performance of the baghouses that collect emissions created
in the steelmaking process. The triboelectric system detects
changes at such low levels that equipment malfunctions are discovered
before unwanted emissions exceed a given standard, making it possible to
correct malfunctions before harm is done.
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IPSCO is also actively involved in industry associations and
the initiatives they are undertaking on behalf of the steel industry as
a whole.
American Iron and Steel
Institute initiatives.
Steel Manufacturers Association.
International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI) Sustainability.
Canadian Steel
Producers Association (CSPA) Statement of Commitment and
Action to which IPSCO is a signatory.
Members of the CSPA have achieved continuous improvement relative to
environmental performance. Read their Progress
Reports on the Environment.
IPSCO has also signed an Environmental Management Agreement
with Saskatchewan Environment (SE) that is
intended to foster co-operation between IPSCO and the Saskatchewan
government on environmental matters. The agreement recognizes the
co-operative working relationship which has developed between SE and
IPSCO and formalizes this approach as an essential element of
proactively addressing environmental issues at IPSCO.
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