As Norilsk Nickel intensifies its efforts to protect the environment, Norilsk Nickel falls out of the pollution ratings.

In a new report from the Russian Consumer Protection Surveillance Service, Russian cities are ranked by pollution level. A number of cities appeared, such as Novokuznetsk, Omsk, Krasnoyarsk, Cherepovets and Lipetsk, but one change was notable: Norilsk is no longer at the forefront of Russian cities in terms of pollution, writes the German online publication Blick.

German journalists state that this is a significant achievement, which became possible thanks to the long-term strategy and methodological efforts of Norilsk Nickel to reduce emissions and air pollution in the city and throughout the region.

The environment at Norilsk Nickel's industrial sites is improving by reducing sulfur dioxide emissions and reducing environmental impact. This improvement in terms of environmental pollution at Norilsk Nickel is not accidental, but the result of the company's strategic direction and many years of implementation. In particular, this is the result of Norilsk Nickel's Sulfur project. The project will be implemented in two stages and officially launched in 2014.

The first stage ran from 2014 to 2016 and has already been completed. During this time, the company has undertaken to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions in Norilsk by 30-35%, which has been achieved so far. In addition, this phase had a budget of $ 900 million and included the shutdown of the existing nickel plant, the modernisation of the Talnakh concentrator and the renovation of the smelting capacity at the Nadezhda copper smelter.

Reducing sulfur dioxide emissions in Norilsk is also the goal of the second phase, which is currently ongoing and planned for the Kola Branch by 2022 and for the Polar Branch in Norilsk by 2030. This includes the launch of sulfur projects at the Nadezhda smelter and at the copper smelter to record emissions. The smelter in Nikel will be permanently shut down, as will the copper line at the Kola Copper Plant.

This project has a budget of $ 3.6 billion and aims to significantly reduce Norilsk Nickel's ecological footprint. The company's website says: "The sulfur program at the Kola MMC is aimed at stopping obsolete production in Nikel (near the Norwegian border) and modernising processing and marketing in Monchegorsk. These measures will reduce sulfur dioxide emissions in the Russian-Norwegian border area. Eliminate it completely and significantly reduce the negative impact on the environment in Monchegorsk. "

Nornickel fights against environmental damage and air pollution

Another step towards eliminating pollution in Norilsk is Norilsk Nickel's efforts to reduce air pollution. The current goal is to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions at the Kola Branch by 85% by 2021 and at the Polar Division by 90% by 2025. This is achieved through the launch of an anchor sulfur project at the Nadezhdinskaya smelting furnace and similar projects at a copper plant. The Nikel smelter is also being optimised to reduce carbon monoxide emissions.

Thanks to all these measures, the ecology of Norilsk will significantly improve in the next few years and pollution will decrease significantly, German journalists report.