ISO 14000 Standards and Environmental Performance Index: A ...

ISO 14000 Standards and Environmental Performance Index:
A Case Study of Leading Steel Mills in India
Sharmistha Banerjee
Reader, Department of Business Management
University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India
Email: sharmisthabanerjee@hotmail.com
And
M. Ruhul Amin
Professor, School of Business
Bloomsburg University, Pennsylvania, USA
Email: mamin@bloomu.edu

ISO 14000 Standards and Environmental Performance Index:
A Case Study of Leading Steel Mills in India
Sharmistha Banerjee
Reader, Department of Business Management
University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India
Email: sharmisthabanerjee@hotmail.com
And
M. Ruhul Amin
Professor, School of Business
Bloomsburg University, Pennsylvania, USA
Email: mamin@bloomu.edu
ABSTRACT
Appreciation of the gravity of environmental problems and related issues had been slow
worldwide. It had perhaps been slower in India. The popularity as well as awareness of
the ISO 9000 standards in India has gained a foothold in the last three decades, presently
industrial development in India is seriously concerned with issues relating to
sustainability as specified in ISO 14000. The standards seek how organizations minimize
the adverse impact of the production processes on the environment, i.e., air, water, land,
noise, and the whole ecology. In this paper several indices which are part of ISO 14000
standards were used for comparative analysis of the environmental performance and an
index suggested. Secondary published data from five large steel plants of India were
collected and this index tested. The longitudinal and comparative data on the indices
provide trends towards effective environmental management. The implications of the
trends and their ramifications for the ecological policies in general and the steel sector of
the manufacturing in particular are discussed in the paper. This index is not only an
internal tool for environmental management but also necessary for sustainable
stakeholder satisfaction. The paper highlights some of the initial efforts of a handful of
public as well private-sector steel manufacturing companies to 'go green'.

ISO 14000 Standards and Environmental Performance Index:
A Case Study of Leading Steel Mills in India
INTRODUCTION
Appreciation of the gravity of environmental problems and related issues had been slow
worldwide. It had perhaps been slower in India. As the popularity as well as awareness of
the ISO 9000 standards in India gained a foothold, industrial development in India is
seriously concerned with issues relating to sustainability as specified in ISO 14000. In
this paper several indices which are part of ISO 14000 standards were used for
comparative analysis of the environmental performance and an index suggested.
Secondary published data from five large steel plants of India were collected and this
index tested. The present study has examined the existing practices as regards
environmental management with specific reference to a select set of steel industries in the
India, where ISO 14000 is not only an internal tool for environmental management but
also necessary for sustainable stakeholder satisfaction. Through a variety of
environmental and cost-savings initiatives—design for the environment, greening the
supply chain, full-cost accounting, zero waste initiatives, ISO 14000 series certification,
environmental accounting, and others, private- sector companies are identifying,
manufacturing and purchasing 'green' products and services. This paper highlights some
of the initial efforts of a handful of public as well private-sector steel manufacturing
companies to 'go green'.
OBJECTIVE
In the last two decades environmental problems have increasingly become the centre of
attention, raising the level of consideration of government, productive industries,
legislative organs and common people on the need to contain risks that human activities
have on the ecosystems. Voluntary initiatives represent a more effective and desirable
alternative to the 'command and control' policies: they provide flexibility for businesses
to reach desired goals in the most effective manner.
As a part of such organizational measures various mandatory measures have been
designed to keep industrially polluting at bay. This paper considers the ISO 14000
standards and their relationship to the steel producing units under study. But modern day
socially responsible corporate citizens have often gone a step beyond the regulations to
emphasize on knowledge management, through total organization performance initiator
like ISO 14000, the new specification dealing with environment management. In this
study we have made an attempt to study the voluntary measures taken up by various steel
producing units in eastern India, over and above the ISO 14000 specifications on business
processes. An index has been constructed to evaluate the environmental management
measures taken by leading steel producing units in India and the secondary data available
from the green reports/ sustainability reports of the SAIL (Steel Authority of India) and
TISCO (Tata Iron and Steel Company) plants have been analyzed to rank both the public
and private sector steel manufacturing units of the India. The longitudinal and

comparative data on the indexes is expected to provide trends towards effective
environmental management.
ISO 14000 and Environmental Performance Index for the Indian Steel Industry
ISO 14000 provides a model for establishing a management system that is focused on
controlling and improving a company's impacts on the environment. Effectively applied,
ISO 14001 promises cost savings, waste reduction, energy efficiency, resource
productivity, and improvements in public relations and liability. It shares common
management system principles with ISO - 9000 series of quality system standards i.e.
policy, planning, implementation and operation, monitoring and corrective action and
management review.
The family of environmental standards ISO 14000 was developed by the ISO Technical
Committee ISO/TC207 and published in September 1996. Formally adopted in 1996 by
the International Organization of Standardization, ISO 14000 represents a new voluntary
international environmental standard, which will likely be adopted by the vast majority of
corporations in India. Its major focus is on the structure, implementation, and
maintenance of a formal environmental management system. In this article, we use case
studies of steel plants in India and discuss some variables that may be used to attain ISO
14000 certification. It is a case in point that the various steel plants in India have already
undertaken voluntary measures that go beyond the scope of compliance. This is their
journey towards certification of ISO 14000.
When ISO 14000 was introduced, following the Rio Summit, India being a signatory of
GATT (General Agreement on Tariff and Trade) was compelled by exogenous factors to
implement ISO 14000 stipulations in its economic gamut. Many companies viewed the
new international standard as a natural extension of the quality management system. Just
as total quality management (TQM) demands a goal of zero defects, as they are clear
indicators of inefficiency in the design of processes and products and services, similarly
the new approach, total quality environmental management, considers every
environmental impact as an indicator of inefficiency in the use of materials and energy. It
aims to improve efficiency and quality by eliminating emissions, effluents and accident.
This new concept of sustainable development has been applied in this paper to develop a
comprehensive approach of the issues related to production of steel with particular
reference to steel plants in India; the objective is to develop an Environmental
Performance Index that will inculcate a spirit of resources utilization in an environment
friendly manner and providing environmental protection.
The Environmental Performance Index suggested in this paper is developed on the
philosophy of the ISO 14000 series goes beyond mere compliance with environmental
legislation. It encourages a systematic examination of all areas where an organization’ s
activities have an impact on the environment and can yield bottom-line benefits such as
reduced waste and savings in consumption of energy and materials.

The ISO 14000 series is a set of generic tools for developing, implementing maintaining
and evaluating environmental policies and objectives; the series contains standards for
environmental management systems, environmental auditing, life-cycle assessment,
environmental labeling and environmental performance evaluation. The best known
standard in this series is ISO 14001, which specifies the requirements for an
environmental management system (EMS) and provides the basis for certification of an
organization’s EMS. An ISO 14001-certified EMS provides certainty to external parties
that an organization has control over the significant environmental aspects of its
operational processes, that it has committed itself to comply with all relevant
environmental legislation and regulation and to improve continually its overall
environmental performance.
In lines with the ISO 14001 standard, this index is really a management standard that may
applicable world-wide with modifications in variables and weightage to suit local or
regional circumstances. Since the ranking by way of this index is a primarily voluntary
and a private matter, it does not impose financial burdens on public agencies.
LITERATURE SURVEY
The studies previously conducted in the areas of pollution prevention, and environment
protection with reference to the steel industry have mostly concentrated on the technical
aspect of environment friendly production of steel, covering ISO 14000 requirements.
But this paper looks at the efforts made by the steel-producing units from the managerial
perspective and hence takes a wider look at the environment degradation prevention
measures taken up by the steel units. The awareness and recognition of environmental
problems, setting environmental goals and objectives, forming core strategies and
policies, promulgating rules and regulations, implementation of plans and lastly the
control measures, all these are the broad phases of environmental management.
The modern trends in environment friendly energy consumption of the steel units as
followed in the developing countries, in general and China, in particular have been
studied in the article titled, Energy consumption in the Iron and Steel industry in Peoples
Republic of China by Liu Zhiping, Wang Yanjia and Liu Jingru (1995) [46].
A technical paper on Research on Super Clean Poly Generation Energy System of Iron
and Steel Industry by Y. Zhang, W. Ni, and Z. Li [45] propose an innovative idea based
on gas poly generation, in iron and steel industry to improve energy efficiency and reduce
pollutant emission. In order to solve the problems existing in COREX smelting reduction
casting technology, he puts forward coal-gas byproduct poly generation strategy of
COREX. In addition, making full use of potential advantages of special gasifiers such as
converter, blast furnace and coke ovens, a new development idea of coal-gas
polygeneration in iron and steel enterprises have been proposed. It makes a breakthrough
compared with conventional theory of Energy Conservation and Loss Reduction. Last but
not the least, the conceptional model of future super clean iron and steel polygeneration
system is established here. As a result, the future prospects are not only high-quality,
low-cost iron and steel producers, but also the real clean and green energy systems.

On the other hand sustainability analysis of the steel industry has been documented by
Dr. Ranajit Chowdhury in his article Sustainable Development Based on Environmental
Analysis for Global Competitiveness of Indian steel industry, (2004) [7]. He discusses the
concept of quality steel through clean technology for green steel production i.e.
upgradation through LD, BOF, dry quenching improved raw material handling has
prompted the development of evolving Environmental Management System (EMS)
which can provide on organization a frame work to balance and integrate economic and
environmental interest.
Assessment and Forecasting of Technologies for Energy and Environmental Management
in the Steel Industry - A Case Study was done as a part of the environmental management
efforts of TATA steel by Mr. R. P. Sharma, Mr. A. Ahmad, and Mr. A. S. Dhillon which
was presented at The Third International Conference of Technology Assessment and
Forecasting Institutions in 1998.
In the National Conference on Pollution Prevention and Control in India, in 2002 and B.
K. Sahu, S.P. Mahajan and S. Mukherji, discussed the Opportunities and Challenges of
Pollution Prevention in Iron and Steel Industry.
Studies have suggested that the Energy optimizing furnace (EOF) which is the basic unit
proposed in place of basic oxygen furnace used for conventional steel making process is a
practice developed by KORF KG of Federal Republic of Germany in the early eighties
for production of steel without the use of electricity. The process is being commercially
exploited since 1982 but has been introduced in India, quite recently.
Studies on Green engineering are an emerging concept, which is being increasingly
accepted for managing the environmental effects for a product manufacture. The key
elements of green engineering are waste reduction, pollution prevention and product
enhancement. Green Engineering has a great potential for changing the observed conflicts
between profitability and environmental quality into a win-win opportunity. However,
case studies on green engineering, like the one attempted here are few and far between.
Concern for environment is being recognized by introducing the concept of environment
adjusted measure of GDP. The issue of sustainable development is being addressed now
by considering the discounted values of the functions and products of the eco-system,
while studying the inter temporal behavior of GDP.
While steel plants around the world have taken significant strides to curb pollution and
enhance energy efficiency, the use of coal or natural gas in iron-ore purifying has been
persisted with because of a lack of effective alternatives. Coal has to be baked into coke
before it can be used in the steel-making process, and baking it releases a range of
noxious compounds such as mercury, sulphur, and nitrogen oxide, all of which are highly
dangerous pollutants causing phenomena such as smog and acid rain. In a study entitled,
Green Steel: Not Far From Reality by Bhaskar Hazarika, [19] he brings to light the
contribution of waste plastic, which is another form of carbon, that Dr Veena
Sahajwalla's team at the School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of New

South Wales, Sydney has discovered in lab experiments works as effectively as coke in a
furnace. Thus, in a twin boost to sustainable development, a waste product could be
converted into a valuable raw material, and a valuable raw material (coal or natural gas)
could be conserved.
Halfway across the world, Donald Sadoway is refining his own contribution to
sustainable steel production. A professor of Materials Science at MIT, Cambridge,
Sadoway, along with his colleagues, is working on drawing oxygen out of iron ore
through electrolysis. In the process, devised by Sadoway, ore is dissolved in a solvent
that is applied with electric current. Consequently, iron gravitates to one of the electrodes,
and oxygen around the other. Unlike the conventional purifying process, using
electrolysis results in no emissions save pure oxygen.
In Iron Steel Eng. Vol. 74, no. 6, pp. 59-63. Jun 1997, L M Wrona and G Julien have
pioneered the concept of a zero waste plant through their article Pollution Prevention in
the Steel Industry - Toward a Zero Waste Plant. [43] The North American steel industry
spends, on average, $12/ton on operating costs to meet environmental compliance
obligations. Improving collection and treatment efficiencies and attempting to lobby and
legislate away environmental regulatory obligations is not a viable long-term alternative
for reducing these costs. The current trend across many industries is to re-evaluate the
manufacturing process with a view toward reducing emissions and process waste by fully
utilizing all resources. Waste minimization strategies for the steel industry have the
potential to provide savings of $5/ton or more on compliance and waste disposal costs.
Reducing the cost of environmental compliance using a zero waste approach requires a
shift in perspective from viewing environmental emissions and process waste as an
unavoidable cost to viewing them as a possible source of revenue. In this article, a
concept of zero waste is defined that is more comprehensive than the concepts
encapsulated in regulatory or industry specific definitions of pollution prevention, source
reduction and multi-media pollution prevention - terms used by EPA and other regulatory
agencies to refer to methods of reducing environmental emissions at the source.
The worldwide trend of environmental concern has been driving manufacturers in
different industry segments to strive to implement competitive strategies in
environmental management. A study has been carried out to evaluate the initiatives and
benefits/costs of implementing ISO 14000 Environmental Management System (EMS)
Standard (1996) in the Hong Kong Printed Circuit Board industry. [24] The research
found that manufacturers intended to implement the ISO 14000 based EMS to improve
their environmental performance, and sustain their competitive position in the global
market place (Kwai-Sang Chin, Kit-Fai Pun. 1999).
The development of the international environmental management standards (ISO 14000
series) offers a unique challenge for public managers to promote self-regulation
worldwide to improve environmental performance of private and public entities.
Ecomanagement Quality System: ISO 14000 by Proto, Maria and Supino, Stefania, 2000
analyzes the state of the art in Italy in the light of the adoption of voluntary schemes such
as the European Ecomanagement and Audit Scheme and the International Standards
Organization (ISO) 14000 environmental standards.[32]

Evaluation of the Costs and Benefits of an Environmental Management System by M.
Alberti, L. Calabrese, D. A.Rossi, [1] published in International Journal of Production
Research 2000, states that the implementation of ISO 14000 certification in a company
involves a set of costs and benefits that must be known in order to assess the investment
effectively in terms of environmental quality. However, as will be shown, these figures
can be difficult to calculate, mainly because of a lack of reference data or specific
assessment criteria. Moreover, few companies have so far implemented an Environmental
Management System. Investments in environment quality sometimes simply look like
costs, but benefits do exist and these are often economically quantifiable. Such benefits
depend on the choice and the pursuit of aims, on the respect of rules (e.g. no omissions)
and on environmental efficiency (e.g. no waste), and can only be calculated following an
in-depth analysis of the system. A first and approximate estimate of these costs and
benefits has been obtained for a number of real industrial cases, mainly in the chemical
field, and the survey results are given in this paper. The research was carried out in Italy
in companies implementing an Environmental Management System in most cases in
accordance with the ISO 14000 series.
How Organizational Culture Impacts on the Implementation of ISO 14001:1996? a UK
multiple-case view authored by Michaela A. Balzarova, Pavel Castka, Christopher J.
Bamber, John M. Sharp, 2006, [2] investigates the influence of organizational culture on
the implementation of ISO 14001 and environmental management system (EMS)
standard in two manufacturing organizations in the UK. The authors identified a
framework of four dimensions of organizational culture that play an important role during
the ISO 14001. These are recognized as people, process, structure and environment.
Decision Traps in ISO 14001 Implementation Process: Case Study Results from Illinois,
by Ghisellini, Alessia , Thurston, Deborah L, 2005 [14] describes cognitive decision traps
into which companies may fall prey during implementation of the ISO 14001 Standard,
and their effect on the environmental performance of certified companies. The
environmental performance of several Illinois ISO certified companies over time has
been investigated. The outcomes of this survey show that even companies seriously
committed to the fulfillment of the Standard, can still accidentally fall prey to cognitive
decision traps, and that the myths regarding the effectiveness of the ISO 14001 Standard
are often far from reality.
Guide to Implementation of ISO 14001 at Airports, 2005 highlights the growing
awareness of the impact of activities on the environment has created a greater need to
take into account environmental factors in air transport. For that reason, an increasing
number of corporations around the world are certifying their environmental management
systems (EMS) by the ISO 14000 series standards. Improving the environmental
performance of corporations is one way of limiting the environmental damage. EMS
provides a framework for organizations that wish to effectively manage their
environmental affairs. Implementing an EMS that conforms to the ISO 14001 standard
may help businesses to integrate environmental values into their operations. This paper is
intended to provide guidance to airports for the development and implementation of an
EMS and assistance in meeting the requirements of ISO 14001.

A Comparative Study on Motivation for and Experience with ISO 9000 and ISO 14000
Certification among Far Eastern countries [21] by Jeh-Nan Pan, 2003 talks about the fast
evolution of management systems standards ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 worldwide. Over
400,000 firms in over 150 countries have adopted ISO 9000 since it was introduced in
1986. Its successor, ISO 14000, was introduced in 1996 and has already been adopted by
over 30,000 firms in over 100 countries. This paper reports on the results of an ISO
9000/14000 mail survey, administered in four Far eastern countries including Japan,
South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan to explore and compare the similarities and
differences of motivations, implementations and certification benefits among these
countries.
Forest Management Systems Evaluation: Using ISO14000 by G T McDonald, M B
Lane, published in Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 2002 [26]
discusses that sustainable forest management (SFM) or ecosystem management is now
the stated goal of forest managers in most countries. This paper focuses on the
implementation of SFM as defined by the C&I, and, in particular, how to identify needed
reforms in forest management systems. It explains and evaluates the ISO's environmental
management systems ISO14000/EMS approach adopted for this purpose in Australia to
assess the adequacy of forest management systems.
Sustainable Coffee in the Mainstream by Danse, Myrtifle, Wolters, Teun in Greener
Management International, 2003 studies [12] Small and medium-sized organizations in
the Costa Rican coffee sector that are faced with a growing demand from overseas clients
to deliver high-quality and safely produced goods and services on time, in the correct
quantities and at competitive standards. This paper focuses on experiences in the
Sustainable Coffee (SUSCOF) Project in Costa Rica, which aimed to create sustainable
production systems within the coffee chain while being flexible enough to adjust to
changing requirements. The Costa Rican coffee co-operatives involved have
implemented environmental management systems in their coffee mills, based on the ISO
14001 norm, a notable achievement in itself.
Cars and the Environment: a New Approach to Assessment Through ISO 14001
Certification of the Car Process by F. Orecchini, and D. Sabatini [27] in Proceedings of
the Institution of Mechanical Engineers -- Part D -- Journal of Automobile Engineering;
Jan 2003 observes that to change the negative effect of traffic increase and to diminish
noxious pollutant emission and environmentally harmful consequences of the car's life
cycle, innovative tools and radically changed approaches are needed. The present
proposal of assessing the car and its environmentally related technological and functional
factors as part of the entire mobility production process shows the applicability of ISO
14001 standards to the entire car process and could be a concrete aid to reaching the
current European and international objectives and strongly encouraging environmentally
friendly car design, manufacturing and lifestyles. The car model analyzed for the case
study application is the Toyota Prius, from the environmental point of view one of the
best on the market, precursor model of the next-generation electric hybrid vehicles.

In Globalization and the Environment: Determinants of Firm Self-Regulation in China by
Christmann, Petra Taylor, Glen, 2001, [8] critics assert that globalization is detrimental to
the environment because it encourages location of polluting industries in countries with
low environmental regulations. Authors suggest that globalization might also have
positive environmental effects because global ties increase self-regulation pressures on
firms in low-regulation countries. Using survey data from firms in China they find that
multinational ownership, multinational customers, and exports to developed countries
increase self-regulation of environmental performance.
Assessment of the impacts of ISO 14000 certification through a case study of Alumax's
aluminum ingot production plant in Mount Holly, South Carolina is detailed in the paper,
As in Panacea, Common Sense, or Just a Label? The Value of ISO 14001 Environmental
Management Systems by Rondinelli, Dennis Vastag, Gyula 2000 [36].
METHODOLOGY OF INDEX CONSTRUCTION
The index has been constructed for ranking the environmental management performance
of the steel manufacturing process. In the steel manufacturing there are various
parameters that contribute to environmental degradation and are therefore important
parameters in such an index. There are solid wastes, which may be sold, recycled or
dumped. There are effluent emissions in air which contain SPM, NOX, and SO2; in water
of nearby river containing TSS, BOD. Besides considering the direct wastes generated,
environment friendly steel production also involves optimum use of energy and water.
These are, therefore, other criteria in the construction of index for adjudicating
environment friendly steel making unit. The specialty of this index is that it is not
restricted t the above mentioned technical aspects only. Taking a more comprehensive
view some non-technical factors like greening attempts, employee training on
environmental awareness and community participation in environmental up gradation
have been considered as a part of this index.
Specific weights have been assigned to these factors according to opinion generated from
the structured interviews of academicians, scientist, environmentalists and experts of the
steel industry, which are as follows:
ITEMS WEIGHTAGES
WASTES 20
AIR 30
WATER 30
NON-TECHNICAL FACTORS 10
MANAGEMENT
PROGRAMME
10
TOTAL 100
Each of these variables has different components, with separate weights assigned to them.
These weights have been given according to opinions gathered through interviews of
specialists and experts in the field through a structured questionnaire. The intra element

weights, arrived at after taking the average weights assigned by experts and
knowledgeable persons are given below.
DISTRIBUTION of 100 PERCENTAGE POINTS IN EACH
CATEGORY
CATEGORIES
SOLID WASTES
(20%) PC
Waste dumped
(kg/tcs) Reciprocal
Percentage of Waste
Recycled
(kg/tcs)
Percentage of solid
wastes sold
(kg/tcs)
POINTS
40
30
AIR (30%) PC
Air Quality in
the township
where the
plant is
located (Micro
gm/Cum):
SPM
Reciprocal
Nox
Reciprocal
POINTS
50
25
WATER
(30%) PC
Water Quality
at the sewage
treatment
Plant of the
steel producing
unit:
TSS (mg/l/tcs)
Reciprocal
BOD (mg/l/tcs)
Reciprocal
POINTS
75
25
NON-
TECHNICAL
FACTORS
(10%)
Greening
attempts (Area
covered during
a year in ha.)
Tree plantation
at various
locations
during an year
PC
POINTS
50
50
MANAGEM
ENT
PROGRAM
ME (10%)
No. of
employee
trained by
environment
al awareness
programs
No. of
environment
awareness
programs
during an
year
PC
POINTS
30
SO2
Reciprocal
25
TOTAL 100 100 100 100 100
A particular issue that deserves attention in construction of this index is that some of the
parameters move in opposite directions. For example, higher the waste recycled per ton
of crude steel but lower the energy consumption in G calories per ton of crude steel is
better for the environment friendly activities. So reciprocal effects energy consumed and
waste dumped, amount of TSS and BOD in water and SPM, NOX and SO2 in air have
been taken. Further details of the index construction is included in the Annexure.
TESTING THE INDEX
We have chosen the steel industry for constructing and then testing this index, primarily
because steel is a highly capital intensive industry and cyclical in nature. Its growth is
intertwined with the growth of the economy at large and in particular with the steel
consuming industries such as manufacturing, housing and infrastructure. Steel, given its
backward and forward linkages, has a large multiplier effect. The significant output
multiplier effect and the forward linkage effects are the compelling reasons propelling
75
25

various economies to set up domestic plants to satisfy the local demand. Though the
production of steel is vital for the economic growth but its production is a major source of
pollution. The production of steel causes water, air and noise pollution and generation of
solid wastes including hazardous waste. The main units of steel industry causing
pollution are coke oven and by-product plant, steel melting shop, sintering plant, blast
furnace, refractory material plant and captive thermal power plant. As India moves ahead
in the new millennium, the steel industry will play a critical role in transforming India
into an economic superpower.
The present research has concentrated on the Integrated Producers of steel that is those
that convert iron ore into steel. Out of the three major players in India, namely Steel
Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO) and
Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), we have selected the units of the eastern region
of India. The integrated steel units spread over West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa
states of India, both in the private and public sector have been considered to be the region
specific sample. For practical and logistic compulsions, secondary data was obtained
from the four steel plants of SAIL and the Jamshedpur unit of Tata Steel for the purpose
of this study and primary data collected through structured questionnaires by
interviewing TATA Steel, SAIL officials and knowledgeable experts for construction of
index.
Ranking
The details of ranking are given in the following table. The Table shows the scores and
therefore the rank assigned to each of the steel manufacturing units under SAIL, BSP:
Bhilai Steel Plant, DSP: Durgapur Steel Plant, RSP: Rourkella Steel Plant, BSL: Bokaro
Steel Ltd. being compared to each other and to the Tata Unit, TISCO in Jamshedpur.
RANK CALCULATION
ITEMS & WEIGHTAGES BSP DSP RSP BSL TATA
WASTES (20%) 3.41 3.77 4.09 3.88 4.84
AIR (30%)
9.36 3.70 2.39 10.99 3.56
WATER (30%)
NON-TECHNICAL FACTORS
6.86 7.57 4.06 7.11 4.41
(10%) 0.97 0.24 1.68 0.30 6.81
MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME
(10%)
3.48 0.86 0.64 1.09 3.93
SCORE (100%) 24.08 16.14 12.86 23.37 23.55
RANK 1 4 5 3 2

BSP: Bhilai Steel Plant, DSP: Durgapur Steel Plant, RSP: Rourkella Steel Plant, BSL:
Bokaro Steel Ltd.
Among them the proportion of importance as assigned by experts is as follows:
Waste: Air: Water: Non-technical Factors: Management Programmes is 20:30: 30:10:10
The plant which has highest aggregate score is ranked 1, Bhilai Steel Plant in this case,
indicating the most efficient performer as regards voluntary measures in pollution free
steel manufacturing unit is concerned. As the Table indicates, the second position is
occupied by TISCO.
Also, considering all the four units under SAIL, clubbed together, and comparing it with
TISCO, we find SAIL gets a better score than TISCO.
ITEMS &
WEIGHTAGES
SAIL TISCO
WASTES (20%) 9.41 10.59
AIR (30%)
18.49 11.51
WATER (30%)
NON-TECHNICAL
16.83 13.17
FACTORS (10%) 3.18 6.82
MANAGEMENT
PROGRAMME (10%)
6.27 3.73
SCORE (100%) 54.17 45.83
RANK 1 2
CONCLUSION
The voluntary measures taken up by four units under Steel Authority of India, Bhilai
Steel Plant (BSP), Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP), Rourkella Steel Plant (RSP), Bokaro
Steel Ltd. (BSL) and the Tata Iron Steel Company (TISCO) at Jamshedpur, as part of
their corporate social responsibility, following ISO 14000 environmental management
system standards, have been considered. In order to quantify the measures undertakes and
evaluate the outcomes a weighted index score has been calculated. The components that
form the score in the process of evaluation of the most environment friendly steel making
unit are Waste, Air, Water, Non-technical factors and Management programs. The
weights have been assigned on the basis of opinions of experts and knowledgeable
persons in the field, SAIL and TATA Steel officials and specifications in the ISO 14000
certification process. Data has been obtained from secondary sources, mostly from the
Sustainability Reports published by the two organizations. The resulting score shows that
considering all the five units (four under SAIL and one under the TATA banner), the best

performing units is the Bhilai Steel plant with TISCO ranking second. But considering all
the SAIL units clubbed together and comparing it with TISCO, the result shows that
SAIL holds a better position in terms of fulfilling voluntary measures relating to steel
manufacturing.
Data sheet (dummy)
WASTE (20%)
ANNEXURE
Plant 1 to n
Plant 1 Plant 1 Plant 1 Plant 2 Plant 2 Plant 2
Year 1 to m
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Waste dumped kg/tcs(40%) a11 a12 a13 a21 a22 a23
Waste recycled kg/tcs(30%) b11 b12 b13 b21 b22 b23
Waste sold kg/tcs(30%) c11 c12 c13 c21 c22 c23
AIR (30%)
In township air:
Spm microgm/cumReciprocal (50%) d11 d12 d13 d21 d22 d23
Nox microgm/cumReciprocal (25%) e11 e12 e13 e21 e22 e23
So2 microgm/cumReciprocal (25%) f11 f12 f13 f21 f22 f23
WATER (30%)
In sewerage treatment plant:
TSS mg/l/tcsReciprocal (75%) g11 g12 g13 g21 g22 g23
BOD mg/l/tcsReciprocal (25%) h11 h12 h13 h21 h22 h23
NON TECHNICAL FACTORS (10%)
Greening attempts Ha/year (50%) j11 j12 j13 j21 j22 j23
Tree plantation (50%) k11 k12 k13 k21 k22 k23
MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME (10%)
Employees trained (75%) p11 p12 p13 p21 p22 p23

Environment awareness program (25%) q11 q12 q13 q21 q22 q23
Step 1: The proportion of waste dumped by Plant 1 in year 1 as a proportion of waste
dumped by all plants in year 1 is calculated as follows:
a11
W a11 =
*100.
( a11+
a21+
a31)
W a11 is the proportion of waste dumped by plant 1 in year 1 out of total waste dumped by
all plants of the sample in year 1.
WASTE (20%)
STEP 1
Plant 1 to n
Plant 1 Plant 1 Plant 1 Plant 2
Year 1 to m
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 1
Waste dumped kg/tcs(40%) wa11=a11/a11+a21 wa12=a12/a12+a22 wa13=a13/a13+a23 wa21=a2
Waste recycled kg/tcs(30%) wb11=b11/b11+b21 wb12=b12/b12+b22 wb13=b13/b13+b23 wb21=b2
Waste sold kg/tcs(30%) wc11=c11/c11+c21 wc12=c12/c12+c22 wc13=c13/c13+c23 wc21=c2
AIR (30%)
In township air:
Spm microgm/cumReciprocal (50%) wd11=d11/d11+d21 wd12=d12/d12+d22 wd13=d13/d13+d23 wd21=d2
Nox microgm/cumReciprocal (25%) we11=e11/e11+e21 we12=e12/e12+e22 we13=e13/e13+e23 we21=e2
So2 microgm/cumReciprocal (25%) wf11=f11/f11+f21 wf12=f12/f12+f22 wf13=f13/f13+f23 wf21=f21
WATER (30%)
In sewerage treatment plant:
TSS mg/l/tcsReciprocal (75%) wg11=g11/g11+g21 wg12=g12/g12+g22 wg13=g13/g13+g23 wg21=g2
BOD mg/l/tcsReciprocal (25%) wh11=h11/h11+h21 wh12=h12/h12+h22 wh13=h13/h13+h23 wh21=h2
NON TECHNICAL FACTORS
(10%)
Greening attempts Ha/year (50%) wj11=j11/j11+j21 wj12=j12/j12+j22 wj13=j13/j13+j23 wj21=j21

Tree plantation (50%) wk11=k11/k11+k21 wk12=k12/k12+k22 wk13=k13/k13+k23 wk21=k2
MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME
(10%)
Employees trained (75%) wp11=p11/p11+p21 wp12=p12/p12+p22 wp13=p13/p13+p23 wp21=p2
Environment awareness program
(25%) wq11=q11/q11+q21 wq12=q12/q12+q22 wq13=q13/q13+q23 wq21=q2
Step 2: Next, we average the weights for each item within a group over the three years,
for each plant. WAV1= (wa11+wa12+wa13)/3, average of proportions of waste dumped by
plant 1 in 3 sampled years.

WASTE (20%)
STEP 2
Plant 1 to n
Plant 1 Plant 2
Average of Year 1 to 3 Average of Year 1 to 3
Waste dumped kg/tcs(40%) WAV1=(wa11+wa12+wa13)/3 WAV2=(wa21+wa22+wa23)/3
Waste recycled kg/tcs(30%) WBV1=(wb11+wb12+wb13)/3 WBV2=(wb21+wb22+wb23)/3
Waste sold kg/tcs(30%) WCV1=(wc11+wc12+wc13)/3 WCV2=(wc21+wc22+wc23)/3
AIR (30%)
In township air:
Spm microgm/cumReciprocal (50%) WDV1=(wd11+wd12+wd13)/3 WDV2=(wd21+wd22+wd23)/3
Nox microgm/cumReciprocal (25%) WEV1=(we11+we12+we13)/3 WEV2=(we21+we22+we23)/3
So2 microgm/cumReciprocal (25%) WFV1=(wf11+wf12+wf13)/3 WFV2=(wf21+wf22+wf23)/3
WATER (30%)
In sewerage treatment plant:
TSS mg/l/tcsReciprocal (75%) WGV1=(wg11+wg12+wg13)/3 WGV2=(wg21+wg22+wg23)/3
BOD mg/l/tcsReciprocal (25%) WHV1=(wh11+wh12+wh13)/3 WHV2=(wh21+wh22+wh23)/3
NON TECHNICAL FACTORS (10%)
Greening attempts Ha/year (50%) WJV1=(wj11+wj12+wj13)/3 WJV2=(wj21+wj22+wj23)/3
Tree plantation (50%) WKV1=(wk11+wk12+wk13)/3 WKV2=(wk21+wk22+wk23)/3
MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME (10%)
Employees trained (75%) WPV1=(wpj11+wp12+wp13)/3 WPV2=(wp21+wp22+wp23)/3
Environment awareness program (25%) WQV1=(wq11+wq12+wq13)/3 WQV2=(wq21+wq22+wq23)/3

WASTE (20%)
STEP 3 STEP 4
Plant 1 Plant 2 Plant 1 Plant2
Waste dumped kg/tcs(40%) WAV1*0.4 WAV2 *04
Plus Plus
Waste recycled kg/tcs(30%) WBV1*0.3 WBV2*0.3
Plus Plus
Waste sold kg/tcs(30%) WCV1*0.3 WCV2*0.3
Equal to ABC
Equal to ABC 1 2 ABC1 * 0.2 ABC2 * 0.2
AIR (30%)
In township air:
Spm microgm/cumReciprocal (50%) WDV1*0.5 WDV2*0.5
plus Plus PLUS PLUS
Nox microgm/cumReciprocal (25%) WEV1*0.25 WEV2*0.25
plus Plus
So2 microgm/cumReciprocal (25%) WFV1*0.25 WFV2*0.25
Equal to DEF1 Equal to DEF2 DEF1 * 0.3 DEF2 * 0.3
WATER (30%)
In sewerage treatment plant:
TSS mg/l/tcsReciprocal (75%) WGV1*0.75 WGV2*0.75 PLUS PLUS
plus Plus
BOD mg/l/tcsReciprocal (25%) WHV1*0.25 WHV2*0.25
Equal to GH1 Equal to GH2 GH1 * 0.3 GH2 * 0.3
NON TECHNICAL FACTORS (10%)
Greening attempts Ha/year (50%) WJV1*0.5 WJV2*0.5 PLUS PLUS
plus Plus
Tree plantation (50%) WKV1*0.5 WKV2*0.5
Equal to JK1 Equal to JK2 JK1 * 0.1 JK2 * 0.1
MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME (10%)
Employees trained (75%) WPV1*0.75 WPV2*0.75
plus Plus PLUS PLUS
Environment awareness programme
(25%) WQV1*0.25 WQV2*0.25
Equal to PQ1 Equal to PQ2 PQ1*0.1 PQ2*0.1
Equal to Equal to
SCORE PLANT
1
SCORE PLANT
2

Step 3:
Total weightage of 100 for a group (say, Wastes) is apportioned among the items within
the group [say, Percentage of Waste generated dumped (kg/tcs) Reciprocal, Percentage of
Waste Recycled (kg/tcs), and Percentage of solid wastes sold (kg/tcs)]. This is done for
each group, Air, Water and Non technical factors and Management program for all
plants.
WASTE (20%)
Waste dumped kg/tcs(Ea11=40%) WAV1*0.4
Plus
Waste recycled kg/tcs(Ea21=30%) WBV1*0.3
Plus
Waste sold kg/tcs(Ea31=30%) WCV1*0.3
Total weight of Waste as a group=100 Equal to ABC 1
E a 11 + E a21 + E a 31 = 100 shows intra waste category weights.
Given that these weights indicate the proportion of pollution created by each of these
plants, averaged over the three year period, the weighted pollution score is calculated.
Step 4:
A composite index (EPI) is obtained by considering the group wise weights
Score of plant 1 for waste generation = ABC 1, is calculated as average of volume of
waste recycled, sold and dumped per ton of crude steel production.
Score of plant 1 for air pollution = DEF 1, is calculated as average of amount of SPM,
SO2 and NOx in one cubic meter of air per ton of crude steel production.
Score of plant 1 for water pollution = HJK 1, is calculated as average of volume of TSS
and BOD per ton of crude steel production.
The same procedure is followed for the non-technical factors and management program
categories.
Rank of the plant 1 for the average of given three years is
ABC1 * 0.2 Plus DEF1 * 0.3 Plus GH1 * 0.3 Plus JK1 * 0.1 Plus PQ1*0.1

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