跨部門企業環境投資的影響: 以正當性理論與利害關係人理論分析台灣鋼鐵產業 - 政大學術集成

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(1)立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v.

(2) 國立治大學亞太研究英語碩士學學程 International Master’s Program in Asia-Pacific Studies College of Social Sciences National Chengchi University 碩士論文 Master’s Thesis 政治. 大. 立. ‧ 國. 學. 跨部門企業環境投資的影響:. ‧. er. io. sit. y. Nat. 以當性理論與利害關係人理論分析台灣鋼鐵產業 Multi-sector Impact on Firm Environmental Investment:. n. al Legitimacy, Stakeholders and the Steel Industry in Taiwan iv Ch. n engchi U. Student: Samantha Sprole Advisor: Dr. Nancy Chen. 中華民國 103 January 2015 i. 1.

(3) 跨部門企業環境投資的影響: 以當性理論與利害關係人理論分析台灣鋼鐵產業 Multi-sector Impact on Firm Environmental Investment: Legitimacy, Stakeholders and the Steel Industry in Taiwan 研究生：教授：. 立. 治 Dr. Nancy Chen 政Advisor: 大國立. 學. 治大學. 亞太研究英語碩士學. 學程. Nat. n. al. er. io. sit. y. 碩士論文. ‧. ‧ 國. 指. Student: Samantha Sprole. C h A Thesis U n i engchi. v. Submitted to International Master’s Program in Asia-Pacific Studies National Chengchi University In partial fulfillment of the Requirement For the degree of Master in China Studies. 中華民國 103 January 2015 ii. 1.

(4) Abstract Contemporary research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) highlights its disputed effect on firm profitability and the determinants of environmental disclosure. Largely missing from these accounts is a critical look at stakeholders — particularly agents in the public, market, and voluntary sectors — and how they influence corporate investment in environmental management systems (EMS). This study explores CSR trends in Taiwan’s private-sector steel industry, focusing on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with electric arc furnaces and. 治政 The research suggests that without a crisis of legitimacy 大 or significant stakeholder 立 pressure — particularly government pressure and pressure to retain ISO 14000 contrasting them with the nation’s flagship industry conglomerate, China Steel.. ‧ 國. 學. certification — SMEs see little incentive (and high costs) to build an effective EMS. Also, contextual factors in Taiwan pose both problems and opportunities for. ‧. sustainable initiatives. Specifically, environmental laws are modern and strict, but. sit. y. Nat. administrative capacity to implement laws is not uniform island-wide. Also,. io. er. activists and localized self-help groups pay less attention to SME steel firms and spend more effort over controversial industries like nuclear power, high-tech. n. a. v. l C companies. Still, government manufacturers and petrochemical and cross-sector ni. i U. he. ch alliances sometimes take an active rolen ing subsidizing EMS and promoting research and development. Using a mixed methods approach within the critical field of political ecology, the research concludes that economic concerns drive SME steel firm behavior, with changes in the scale of EMS development coming into play only in favorable cost-benefit scenarios and typically with substantial pressure emanating from the private and public sectors. Keywords: environmental management systems, corporate social responsibility, legitimacy theory, stakeholder theory, environmental governance. iii.

(5) 跨部門企業環境投資的影響: 以當性理論與利害關係人理論分析台灣鋼鐵產業 Multi-sector Impact on Firm Environmental Investment: Legitimacy, Stakeholders and the Steel Industry in Taiwan. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. iv. i n U. v.

(6) Acknowledgements I would not have been able to complete this thesis without the help and support of many wonderful people. Chief among these are my parents, Kathy and Stephen Sprole, whose unceasing enthusiasm for my life and work in Taiwan has made the extended time away from home more bearable. I also owe a huge debt of gratitude to Jason Gerrock at The China Post, for adjusting my work schedule to allow for the flexibility I needed to complete my thesis in its final stages. Thank you also to Jerry Huang at the Taiwan Steel and Iron Industry Association, for his astonishing generosity over a span of several in-depth interviews that truly formed the backbone of my understanding about the electric arc furnace steel industry and technology in Taiwan. To Adam Materna, without whose encouragement and inspiration I would have struggled to find the. 政治大 appreciation in earnest. I’d also like to thank Wendy Fang, for patiently guiding me through 立. requisite levels of motivation and gumption to commit these ideas to paper, I extend my sincere. pages of powerpoint slides about furnace sizes and emission levels when she would have rather. ‧ 國. 學. been discussing more scintillating language exchange topics. Thank you also to Hans Chen and Chris Lin, for their careful translation work for the Chinese title of this paper, and to Queena Yen. ‧. for her in-person translation of complex technical documents about dioxin legislation, which proved immensely helpful. To Jacob Tischer, thank you so much for cups of tea, study sessions,. y. Nat. sit. and break-time diversions during the hectic final days of writing. I am also immensely grateful to. al. er. io. have had the opportunity to study research methods under the tutelage of Dr. Evan Berman,. n. former director of the International Doctoral Program in Asia-Pacific Studies at National. Ch. i n U. v. Chengchi University. I am very lucky to have also studied in the International Master’s Program. engchi. of Asia-Pacific Studies while Professor Kuan Ping-yin was at the helm. Finally, I am deeply thankful for the time, the support and the helpful feedback from my thesis committee members, Dr. Nancy Chen, Dr. Tang Ching-ping, and Dr. Yeh Shin-Cheng. Thanks to their insight and help in finding interview subjects, this research project has deeply enriched my understanding of and appreciation for the people and socio-political situation in Taiwan, particularly with regard to environmental issues. With this superb foundation, I have discovered a wealth of information not only about my topic of study but also about my self, my ambitions and my place in Taiwan. I have endeavored to make this master’s thesis a testament to my life here and an opportunity to challenge my abilities beyond their limits. I thank everyone for their patience and support in this.. v.

(7) CONTENTS 1. Introduction ………………………………………………………………… 1 1.1 Motivation for research …………………………………………… 1 1.2 Research question and design …………………………………….. 2 1.3 Research significance ……………………………………………... 5 2. Environmental governance and Taiwan’s EAF steel industry ……………... 7 2.1 The steelmaking process with an electric arc furnace …………….. 8 2.2 Environmental issues and mitigating technologies ……………….. 12 2.3 Steel in Taiwan and private sector environmental initiatives ……... 29 2.4 Public sector factors ……………………………………………….. 40 2.5 Voluntary sector factors …………………………………………… 48 3. Review of Literature ………………………………………………………... 53 3.1 Corporate social responsibility (CSR) …………………………….. 54 3.2 Corporate citizenship (CC) ………………………………………... 58 3.3 Legitimacy theory …………………………………………………. 60 3.4 Stakeholder theory ………………………………………………… 63 3.5 Intervening variables …………………………………………………...66 4. Results ………………………………………………………………………. 68 5. Discussion …………………………………………………………………... 75 6. Conclusion …………………………………………………………………... 80 7. References …………………………………………………………………... 81 8. Appendices ………………………………………………………………….. A-1 8.1 Appendix 1: Chinese-language survey (distributed) ………………. A-1 8.2 Appendix 2: English-language survey (reference) ………………… A-8 8.3 Appendix 3: List of interviewees and survey participants ………… A-15 8.4 Appendix 4: Domestic SME survey responses ……………………. A-16. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. vi. i n U. v.

(8) List of Tables … … … …. 7-8 35 55 69-70. 1. EAF steel production and pollution/waste generation 2. The waste management process 3. Three air pollution collection systems 4. Energy inputs and inefficiencies in EAF plants 5. Map of EAF locations in Taiwan 6. Two keys for deciphering air quality index data (Figures 7-13) 7. Air quality index for Xiaogang Dist., Kaohsiung (Aug. 17-18, 2015). … … … … … … …. 9 11 15 24 27 27 28. 8. Air quality index for Taoyuan (Aug. 17-18). …. 28. …. 28. …. 29. y. …. 29. sit. 1. Chief aspects of environmental governance in EAF steel production 2. Example EMS improvement objectives and targets for EAF facilities 3. Resources/inputs used in provision of CSR 4. Collated survey data by indicator ranges. …. 29. … …. 30 52. … … 17. Evolution of stakeholder theory … 18. Conceptual framework of legitimation pressures in EMS development …. 57 62 66 79. List of Figures. 學. ‧ 國. 立. 政治大. ‧. 9. Air quality index for Tainan (Aug. 17-18) 10. Air quality index for Changhua (Aug. 17-18). Nat. 11. Air quality index for Miaoli (Aug. 17-18). io. 13. Air quality index for Taitung (Aug. 17-18) 14. EAF industry and related environmental damage sites. n. al. er. 12. Air quality index for Ilan (Aug. 17-18). C hmodel of CSR U n i 15. Schwartz and Carroll’s three-domain engchi 16. Four stages of legitimacy. vii. v.

(9) List of abbreviations advanced high-strength steel best available techniques Business Council for Sustainable Development Carbon Disclosure Project carbon monoxide China Steel Corporation corporate social and environmental responsibility/corporate social responsibility Dow-Jones Sustainability Index electric arc furnace environmental impact assessment environmental management system Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration greenhouse gas Global Reporting Initiative Industrial Development Bureau International Organization for Standardization Kuomintang, Chinese Nationalist Party Ministry of Economic Affairs National Council for Sustainable Development non-governmental organization nitrogen oxide non-profit organization polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons polychlorinated biphenyls polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans persistent organic pollutant Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Republic of China Research and development small- and medium-sized enterprises sodium monoxide socially responsible investment Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Forum Taiwan Environmental Protection Union ultra high-strength steel United National Framework Convention on Climate Change volatile organic compound World Business Council for Sustainable Development World Health Organization World Steel Association. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. AHSS BAT BSCD CDP CO CSC CSER/CSR DJSI EAF EIA EMS EPA GHG GRI IDB ISO KMT MOEA NCSD NGO NOx NPO PAH PCB PCDD/F POP RCRA ROC/R.O.C. R&D SME SOx SRI TCSF TEPU UHSS UNFCCC VOC WBCSD WHO WSA. Ch. engchi. viii. i n U. v.

(10) 1. Introduction 1.1 Motivation for Research As Taiwanese society considers its status as a high-tech industrial powerhouse and its aspirations for formal diplomatic recognition, the issue of environmental protection hangs in the balance. The documentary film Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above (看見台灣) released in October 2013 highlighted this tension between industry and nature via airborne panoramas that showed the island’s lush green wildlife juxtaposed with the muted colors of industry, bleeding outward along polluted waterways. This film caused a sensation when it first screened in theaters, breaking domestic box office records and taking home a Golden Horse Award for best. 政治大 forced to pay the maximum fines permitted by law and, in the case of Advanced Semiconductor 立 Engineering Inc. (ASE), undergo criminal prosecution for illegally dumping wastewater and documentary. It also brought about investigations into heavy industry players that were later. ‧ 國. 學. submitting bogus environmental monitoring data.. This newsworthy intersection between the culture industry, heavy industry and the. ‧. government shows how dynamic environmental protection issues have become in modern-day Taiwan. Still, the heart of these issues runs deeper than the latest environmental scandal to. Nat. sit. y. appear in the media. In an economy built mostly of small- and medium-sized enterprises,. io. er. Taiwan’s environmental predicament is felt mostly in the accumulated impact of a myriad companies whose individual footprint might not merit much government concern. Especially as. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. Taiwan phases out its economic past (centered on heavy industry) in favor of its high-tech. engchi. present and future, traditional sources of pollution don’t always receive enough attention from environmentalist actors. Particularly after undergoing decades of technological upgrades and environmental management system (EMS) renewal, the question of how heavy industry firms ultimately decide on their environmental protocols — what factors they consider and why — becomes crucial to understanding the power, potential, and paradoxes that confound ongoing efforts to make Taiwan a “green” island. Steel production offers a good opportunity to study this timely issue. The steel industry was pivotal to Taiwan’s early economic development and matured alongside its earliest regulatory successes like sulfur oxide (SOx) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions standards as well as regulatory failures like dioxin control. Thus, steel production might be a microcosm of. 1.

(11) the economic and regulatory environment in Taiwan’s heavy industries more generally. The green potential of steel production also makes this industry the perfect target for research into corporate social responsibility (CSR) – unlike other heavy industries with no examples of cutting-edge green innovation. As early as 2011, a small number of steel manufacturers in Europe have been certified Cradle to Cradle (C2C) 1. C2C describes a manufacturing system involving only two types of materials: biodegradable materials (which can be returned to the “biological cycle” without harm) and materials that can be recycled infinitely (within a closed-loop “technical cycle”) without degrading in quality or producing negative externalities (like waste). The creators of C2C see this model as a way of revolutionizing the manufacture of all goods in a sustainable. 政治大 C2C ideal, that path has already opened to them through the example of others. 立. future. So while Taiwan’s small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) might be far from the. Generally speaking, the melting down of scrap material in small-scale electric arc. ‧ 國. 學. furnaces (EAF) can produce steel for re-use while maintaining quality – an insurmountable hurdle in most plastics and paper recycling. The key environmental setback for most steel firms. ‧. has to do with waste management. Still, steel (as a “nutrient” in the technical cycle) offers an exciting glimpse into a sustainable future. Iron and steel are the most recycled materials on earth. y. Nat. sit. and form the structural basis of new sustainable technologies (e.g., efficient vehicles, green. al. er. io. buildings, alternative energy). Moreover, Taiwan has already earned an international reputation. n. for sustainable steel production in the likes of China Steel, one of the oldest industrial giants on. Ch. i n U. v. the island. The combination of momentum and potential from within society, within public. engchi. sector environmental protection agencies and within the industry itself makes sustainable steel an exciting topic of research.. 1.2 Research question and design Understanding how companies make decisions about environmental investment helps gauge their level of commitment to environmental causes. Also, different stakeholders in society want to influence this decision-making process, and some of their strategies enjoy more success than others. This study asks the following question: To what extent do sector-based pressures (i.e., influence from the public, private and voluntary sectors) impact upgrades of environmental 1. See http://www.sustainableinsteel.eu/p/544/cradle_to_cradle.html 2.

(12) technologies and practices in Taiwan’s contemporary steel industry? In other words, this research organizes pressure on the EAF firm into three basic groups: pressure arising from government, from industry, and from civil society (communities, independent academia, the media). Then I tried to ascertain which kind of pressure has the greatest impact on companies. Admittedly, these sector-based categories are not isolated wells of influence. Agents from multiple sectors often interact and cooperate on environmental initiatives, as the growing literature on public-private partnership can attest. For example, lawmakers may speak at press conferences organized by environmentalists, or experts from academia may test water sources for pollution and government agencies may rely on their data. To prevent any confusion, this categorization scheme focuses on the pressure point each sector can control. When water. 政治大 initiative belongs with the public sector. When the same data becomes the basis of a civil lawsuit, 立 pollution data from voluntary sector experts forms the basis for a government fine, then this. its influence emanates from the voluntary sector. The literature review includes a more in-depth. ‧ 國. 學. explanation of stakeholder groups and tactics.. The primary unit of analysis for this research is small and medium-sized steel companies. ‧. in Taiwan that use EAF. According to the Taiwan Steel and Iron Industries Association (TSIIA), EAF technology is the primary source of environmental impact from the steel industry in. y. Nat. sit. Taiwan, particularly with regard to waste management and air pollution issues. Thus, I. al. er. io. distributed a detailed survey to the entire population (according to TSIIA records) of 21 EAF. n. steel manufacturers. Since my list of EAF companies comes from an official source, however,. Ch. i n U. v. this study does not incorporate data from “underground” companies, which operate illegally and. engchi. beyond the present monitoring capacity of private- and public-sector regulators. Although I did not come across evidence to suggest that this kind of EAF facility exists, interviews with current public officials and environmental studies experts highlighted this general phenomenon. These underground plants, they asserted, cause more environmental damage than their lawful counterparts. The survey asks for an inventory of EAF-related environmental technologies and practices based on the 2013 Best Available Techniques (BAT) reference document released by. 3.

(13) the European Commission. 2 In addition, the survey measures corporate perception of pressure from pro-environment agents in each sector. I received a total of five complete responses from a pool of six total responses (not including China Steel), which amounts to about a 23.8% success rate. Since few companies responded, the large number of variables in the survey limits its usefulness as an instrument for unearthing trends in corporate decision-making. For such a small number of cases, it would have been better to operationalize fewer variables. Another possible limitation of the survey is that companies might only participate if they feel secure about their environmental record. Fearing a potential public relations fallout after their responses reach the public, polluting firms might keep quiet about their activities. To try and counteract this bias, as well as to make up for the disappointing participation rate and better. 政治大 private and voluntary sectors as well as academics before and after survey distribution. This 立. understand my topic, I also conducted in-depth interviews. I spoke with members of the public,. report especially relies on 16 interviews with members of the voluntary sector (environmentalist. ‧ 國. 學. groups and academics), steel industry representatives, government officials and industry consultants.. ‧. These interviews helped diversify the operationalization of survey variables by sector (e.g., emissions standards, enterprise environmental protection awards, and voluntary programs. y. Nat. sit. in the public sector) as well as explain intervening variable impact on firm upgrades (i.e., the. al. er. io. impact of routine manufacturing upgrades). By casting a wide net to accumulate data from all. n. sectors, this study seeks to employ the methodology of political ecology studies described by. Ch. i n U. v. Little (2007). This method incorporates four main analytical tools/principles: an identification of. engchi. socio-environmental actors (agents from the social and natural world), an emphasis on relationships, exploration of context, and focus on internal dynamics (procedures and/or flows of resources or lines of command). To satisfy the requirements of this analytical paradigm, the environmental governance segment of this report details the socio-environmental actors involved in EAF steel production in Taiwan, from the ecological and technical context of EAF steel production — its impact on the natural world and the components of an optimal environmental investment scheme — to the. Taiwanese environmental protection agencies use this same document to advise industry and craft regulatory policy for EAF facilities. The BAT serves as a kind of green manufacturer’s wish list and includes the latest technologies designed to minimize the impact of production. 2. 4.

(14) private, public and voluntary sectors whose activities impact (and are impacted by) corporate decisions to implement EMS. Next, the literature review section explores legitimacy theory, stakeholder theory, and other viable explanations for why firms engage in (or avoid) developing their EMS. Finally, the results and discussion sections organize the feedback from surveys and interviews in light of the preliminary research. Importantly, this study does not succumb to the critique levied by Vayda and Walters (1999) against early self-styled political ecologists; these researchers apparently begged the question by assuming that organized politics had a key role to play in environmental change, and then they set out to prove it. In fact, unlike many studies in the field of political ecology, this research tackles a relatively uncontroversial issue in Taiwan’s contemporary political scene –. 政治大 following section about the significance of the research discusses this further. 立. despite the important impact EAF steel production can have on public and ecological health. The. ‧ 國. 學. 1.3 Research significance. This study contributes to prior work in the political ecology field by examining a site of. ‧. environmental conflict (industrial activity versus public and ecological health) that does not. y. Nat. engage civil society groups in open, direct and political conflict with public and private sector. sit. actors. In other words, waste management and other environmental problems in Taiwan’s steel. er. io. industry have not captured the public’s attention like issues such as nuclear power and untreated. al. iv n C there has been little indication of a public scandal brewing in h e n g c h i Uthe steel industry, and this actually marks a departure from most subjects of inquiry in political ecology. n. wastewater dumping by semiconductor and electroplating firms. In the course of my research,. Most political ecology research emphasizes hot-button issues 3 involving polluting industries that are in conflict not only with the sustainability of the natural environment but also with groups at various levels of society (NGOs, neighborhood associations, regional governments, indigenous tribes, and more). It’s important to develop a clear picture of how industries that fly largely under the public radar operate, especially in regions where heavy industry is still a chief contributor to economic development. Despite the emotional appeal of intense industry-society clashes, most industries worldwide do not bear the weight of infamy, For example, diamond mining in Africa, fair trade coffee plantations in Latin America, the destruction of mangrove ecosystems in the Philippines, etc.. 3. 5.

(15) and yet the cumulative environmental impact of factories that go relatively unnoticed amounts to a much greater impact than the few firms that endure pointed scrutiny. This study seeks to fill this knowledge gap in the critical field of political ecology — a methodologically strong field that needs a better understanding of “business as usual.” In addition, this study makes a contribution to the knowledge available in English regarding the specific forces at work in Taiwan’s small- and medium-sized steel and iron enterprises and their relationship with the environment. This information is especially relevant considering the intensity of steel use in Taiwan per capita relative to other countries. Chang et al. (2002), comparing Taiwan with Japan and the U.S., concluded that Taiwan has the second highest per capita use of steel (to Japan), but steel demand and use were increasing in Taiwan. 政治大 intensity of steel use (defined as production/GDP), which Chang understands to be an indicator 立 whereas Japan was on a downtrend. Taiwan also superseded Japan and the U.S. with regard to. of Taiwan’s relative inefficiency.. ‧ 國. 學. Furthermore, this work has practical significance for stakeholders in Taiwan who seek greater impact on industrial decision-making. The study isolates initiatives by sector while. ‧. highlighting the activities of environmental agents, paying special attention to the unique limitations of institutions and groups. Thus, members of these organizations can leverage this. y. Nat. sit. insight to enhance their initiatives. Little (2007) says the following about the practical. al. er. io. significance of political ecology research: “This knowledge … contains the potential for being. n. appropriated by the very social actors involved, and may even promote the questioning of. Ch. i n U. v. existing public policies and the proposal of new forms of action and public control.” Moreover,. engchi. local environmental policy wonks indicate that stymied progress in Taiwan can arise from a lack of mutual understanding across sectors and the poor communication that results; this is especially true for some environmental activists who lack an understanding of corporate motivators and limitations beyond “greed” and other unhelpful buzzwords. My own hope is that such activists will further empower themselves and their movement by harnessing more knowledge and a greater array of potential solutions – including technological solutions – in the fight against environmental degradation. Thus, this study’s attempt to describe the circumstances of all members of EAF’s “political ecosystem,” while placing special emphasis on the steel production plants themselves, may serve as a jumping-off point to more informed and productive conversations about the nation’s economic and environmental future.. 6.

(16) 2. Environmental governance and Taiwan’s steel industry The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources defines environmental governance as “the means by which society determines and acts on goals and priorities related to the management of natural resources. This includes the rules, both formal and informal, that govern human behavior in decision-making processes as well as the decisions themselves.” 4 According to the World Steel Association, steel is the most recycled material globally; it comes from processed iron ore and generates byproducts that affect natural resources like air and water. Electric arc furnaces are particularly popular worldwide because, by using. 政治大. recycled steel rather than iron ore, they require less capital and less energy than other facilities. For the purposes of this study, environmental governance involves stakeholders in the economic,. 立. political and social spheres influencing decisions to adopt and implement (typically capital. ‧ 國. 學. intensive) environment-oriented technologies and procedures to control and mitigate negative externalities (Figure 1):. Table 1: Chief Aspects of Environmental Governance in EAF Steel Production. ‧. Governance Factors. Nat. Components -macroeconomic challenges -market/shareholder and customer pressure -industry associations -international industry standards -research and development alliances -central and local government regulations -voluntary initiatives -development assistance and subsidies -recognition schemes -neighborhood self-help groups -nongovernmental organizations -media attention -expertise and activism from academics (not working on behalf of government or business) -expertise and information -accessible technologies and protocols -allocation of capital for upgrades -corporate decision making process, ethos -employee health concerns -public health issues. sit. n. er. io. al. y. Influence from the economic sphere (private sector). Influence from the political sphere (public sector). Ch. engchi. Influence from the social sphere (voluntary sector). Environmental management systems (technology and operations). Environmental impact 4. i n U. v. See https://www.iucn.org/about/work/programmes/environmental_law/elp_work/elp_work_issues/el p_work_governance/ 7.

(17) -global issues (especially global warming) -resource and energy conservation -waste control. Environmental impact continued (negative externalities). This section will explore each of the aforementioned parameters of environmental governance in turn, starting with an in-depth explanation of steel production in an EAF facility. This information contextualizes environmental investment by positioning it within a paradigm of day-to-day operations and forecasts potential areas for improvement. Next, a detailed look at what is at stake for the industry (i.e., the environmental impacts of EAF) illuminates the broader context of private sector initiatives for EMS development. The final two subsections discuss political/regulatory and social influences on EAF operations. Later, the efficacy of multi-sector. 政治大. influence on actual Taiwanese firms’ EMS development will be explored in the results and. 立. discussion sections.. ‧ 國. 學. 2.1 The steelmaking process with an electric arc furnace Understanding in detail how EAF facilities produce steel makes it easier to grasp the inputs. ‧. and outputs of the system and their environmental implications as well as the high level of. y. Nat. expertise and capital required to make changes and improvements. As will be explored more. sit. thoroughly in the results section, cross-sector friction related to industrial upgrades (particularly. al. er. io. when government regulators seek upgrades to older facilities) may result from or be exacerbated. v. n. by company resentment over a perceived public sector failure to adequately measure the material. Ch. i n U. constraints of an operation. The following section just skims the surface of the intricate industrial. engchi. process of EAF steelmaking, implicitly drawing attention to the massive levels of sunk costs in particular technologies and existing methods of operation. The process of producing steel with an electric arc furnace includes five complex phases: raw material loading and furnace charging, melting and deslagging, refining and alloying, slag handling, and casting. More precisely, the slag handling stage is not strictly a part of the steelmaking process, but is actually a waste management task of crucial importance during each production cycle. Figure 1 depicts this production cycle and highlights the stages at which pollution and waste are generated. Section 2.2 describes the production and treatment of emissions and waste in greater detail, including a breakdown of EAF’s solid and gaseous emissions and their respective impact on human and environmental health.. 8.

(18) Figure 1: EAF steel production and pollution/waste generation. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. First, scrap iron must be collected as a base material (sometimes after undergoing a pretreatment process). This scrap material is often called “ferrous scrap,” and can either constitute trimmings and discarded pieces from industrial steel molding and production, or it can. ‧. be end-of-life consumer goods and parts. Sometimes direct reduced iron, or “sponge iron” —. y. Nat. pellets of iron ore that were subjected to a fossil fuel-derived gas — may be added at this initial. al. er. io. heavy metal like manganese, aluminum or silicon.. sit. stage as well as “ferroalloys,” 5 which are concentrated nuggets of iron and some other desirable. n. iv n C alloyed, with other elements at either (orhboth) the initial furnace e n g c h i U loading stage or the refining/alloying stage. For example, add chromium (a highly toxic chemical) to make steel. To bring about certain properties in the finished steel, the raw material must be mixed, or. resistant to oxidation (rusting) — an immensely important feature of many grades of steel used in infrastructure development and transportation and other uses in a variety of climates with strict strength and longevity demands. Add aluminum to remove oxygen from the melted steel and prevent steel “aging” when under strain, add carbon for hardness and strength and add manganese to improve the mixture’s hot working properties 6฀. These preliminary additives can. The symbol for iron in the periodic table is Fe, which comes from the Latin root word for iron, ferrum. 6 See http://www.chasealloys.co.uk/steel/alloying-elements-in-steel/ for a list of common alloys and their properties. 5. 9.

(19) be collected along with the scrap material 7฀ with the help of magnets or a mechanical claw and placed into an enormous metal “basket,” also known as a charging box, which can be positioned above the kiln. The bottom of the basket will then open to allow the contents to pour into the melting area, “charging” the furnace (often with 50-60% of the prepared scrap at first, adding the rest after successive stages of melting). Second, the scrap materials are melted by lowering a graphite (made almost entirely of carbon atoms) electrode or group of electrodes 200-300 millimeters above the scrap, suspended in the furnace. With a massive input of electricity, these electrodes conduct an electrical current that can vary between 42,000 and 50,000 amps 8 (compare that to a major home appliance that registers about 60 amps at most), generating an ongoing, ultra-hot plasma discharge from the. 政治大 “u” shape approaching 3,000 degrees Celsius (and also producing a persistent, very loud 立. head of the electrode and connecting with the head of the electrode beside it to form an “arc,” or. crackling noise during the early stages of melting). As the melting process continues, the. ‧ 國. 學. electrodes descend deeper into the scrap, often accompanied by an increase in power. To protect the furnace from radiation from the electrodes, many EAF firms simultaneously inject oxygen. ‧. and carbon into the liquid metal at this stage, which in part transforms into carbon monoxide bubbles and a foam slag that also helps distribute the heat energy more efficiently as it shields. y. Nat. sit. the furnace walls from excessive damage 9. The furnace itself is a refractory-lined vessel (coated. al. er. io. with an alkaline material, like calcium oxide and magnesium oxide, with an extremely high. n. melting point) that is typically equipped with water-cooled panels. The electrodes may also come. Ch. equipped with a water-cooled system.. engchi. i n U. v. Before the heating process is fully complete, typically limestone and/or dolomite (a kind of “flux,” to use the industry jargon) will be added to the mixture at temperatures around 1,600 degrees Celsius to produce slag, a waste product. Between 50 and 120 pounds (about 23-54 kilograms) per ton of steel is required. Lime is particularly adept at reducing the sulfur, It is perhaps most common, however, to add ferroalloys later, during the refining stage, to minimize the amount of valuable additives lost during deslagging. 8 An amp, or ampere, is a measurement of the amount of electrical charge, i.e. the number of electrons, passing a particular point in a circuit within a specific time period, with 6.241 x 1018 electrons per second constituting one amp. 9 Injection of oxygen at this point has even more benefits such as thinning overall levels of carbon (decarburization) and removing sulfur and phosphorus. 7. 10.

(20) phosphorus and silica from the molten metal. Slag is the result of these undesirable components binding with the limestone/dolomite additive and rising to the top of the heated mixture. Slag not only minimizes impurities in steel, it can also form a kind of thermal blanket to minimize heat loss during melting. After a while, the top layer of undesirable slag is poured out when the furnace tilts to the side and/or it gets raked off the melted steel during “deslagging.” The creation and removal of different types of slag (designed to remove different undesirable elements) may happen several times depending on the grade and type of steel being produced. Importantly, the removal of slag into a pot or directly onto the ground below the furnace results in the production of dust and fumes, the latter of which is pulled into an exhaust system. Third, the furnace tilts to pour the molten steel into a preheated container called a “ladle,”. 政治大 fundamental, chemical characteristics), for instance, by removing sulfur, phosphorus and excess 立 where it is refined. Refining is a process of making a metal more pure (rather than changing its. carbon and/or dissolved gases like nitrogen and hydrogen from the molten steel. Steel refining. ‧ 國. 學. alone can be conceptualized as a number of specialized steps — at different “ladle treatment stations” based on the technological and steel grade-specific capabilities of an EAF facility —. ‧. and often involves the removal of oxygen in the latter stages, i.e. via a process of chemical deoxidation, adding fluxes and deslagging, or sometimes vacuum degassing. The refining stage. y. Nat. sit. is also a key point to add ferroalloys to enhance certain properties of the steel and further deplete. al. er. io. its oxygen content chemically. Also, inert gases are injected into the ladle to stir the mixture and. n. achieve an adequate level of homogenization, and ladle furnace equipment reheats the finished. Ch. mixture to the appropriate temperature for casting.. engchi. i n U. v. Through successive stages of creating and removing slag, a process of slag handling and processing must be initiated to manage this kind of waste. If slag has been collected into a specialized pot, it must cool and solidify there (often with the help of water sprays). Some companies treat slag with silica, alumina and boron to make it easier to deal with. If slag was poured onto the floor, after it solidifies is must be crushed, collected and moved to a storage area with shovel loaders or excavator vehicles. Eventually this substance will be further crushed and processed and can be made into either material for construction (particularly road-building) or lime fertilizer. In Taiwan, independent off-site facilities must be contracted to handle slag treatment — except in the case of Dragon Steel, a China Steel subsidiary. Finally, the liquid metal is evacuated from the ladle and casted (poured into molds and. 11.

(21) allowed to cool and solidify) according to the company’s or clients’ preferred specifications. Before the 1960s, most steel firms poured the molten medal into permanent molds, one-by-one. Thanks to modern metallurgy techniques, a more popular method today called continuous casting works by pouring metal from a ladle through a vertical gas-tight refractory tube and into a “tundish,” a special reservoir that allows the steel to continue to flow vertically at a controlled rate through parallel gas-tight refractory tubes before reaching water-cooled copper molds. With only the outer shell solidified, the steel is then pressed on a curve under a system of rollers and water sprays until it emerges horizontal as a parallel series of long strands of a particular size and width (different configurations exist with specialized machinery) and a mechanized torch cutter cuts each strand to size. This method saves on energy and water as well as reduces emissions.. 政治大 continuous method, which includes every EAF facility in Taiwan. 立. The European Commission’s 2013 BAT report states that 90% of global steel is cast using the. ‧ 國. 學. 2.2 Environmental issues and mitigating technologies The following paragraphs tackle the six main environmental issue areas associated with. ‧. EAF steel production as well as the industry-standard environmental technology used to combat. y. Nat. these problems (i.e., potential targets for EMS development). Generally speaking, the six. sit. environmental issue areas at stake are as follows: waste management, air pollution (including. er. io. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions), energy consumption, water use and spatial planning. With the. al. iv n C Reference Document for Iron and Steel Production published h e n g c h i Uby the European Commission, which is the basis for the survey data I collected. These areas, however, are not equally important n. exception of spatial planning, all these areas are included in the Best Available Techniques. with respect to their levels of environmental impact. According to Ioana and Balescu (2009) and several of my interviewees, the main ecological issues with EAF steel production have to do with powder collection (waste management) and harmful gas control (air pollution). The following paragraphs will explore these environmental issues one by one as well as the industry standards and technologies used to mitigate their negative impact on the environment, beginning with the topic of waste management. Waste management in EAF facilities targets industrial byproducts such as powders and slag. Tay Joo Hwa, researcher from the School of Civil and Structural Engineering at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, describes industrial waste management as a process of at. 12.

(22) least five (and sometimes six) steps.10 The first stage involves a collection process. On a comprehensive scale, waste collection may be as complex and technology-based as specialized filtration devices that capture particles of a certain size as they are expelled through a drain or vent, or it can be as simple as office trash collection. The next phase involves storage of waste. Waste will accumulate in storage units until it is ready or able to move to the next stage. The third stage of the waste management process depends on whether or not a company processes its waste on-site. If the company has the capital and technical expertise necessary to process on-site, then the next stage is waste treatment. If not, then the waste in storage must be transported elsewhere for treatment; this is the case in Taiwan, where organizations like the Taiwan Steel Union Co. are charged with treating hazardous EAF dust. 11 After waste treatment, Hwa labels. 政治大 through recycling and re-use; some of the mineral elements in EAF dust can be extracted and put 立 the final two stages “disposal” and “control.” The most environmental form of disposal is. to use in other industries as raw materials (through processes discussed later), as in magnetic. ‧ 國. 學. metals from iron oxide dust. The control stage is rather vague in Hwa’s report, but the term suggests maintenance, planning and care for the sites (e.g., landfills) where waste disposal. ‧. occurs. Figure 1 illustrates the waste management process. Figure 2: The waste management process. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i n U. v. Source: Hwa, 2001. The biggest waste management hurdle EAF firms must tackle involves the prodigious amounts of powder, or dust, the industry generates. The release of airborne powder occurs at every stage of the EAF process, from loading to evacuation, and about 20 kilograms of powder is released per ton of steel (Boyanov & Baev, 2009). The fine powder contains a variety of heavy Hwa, J.T. (2001). Integrated report. In Hazardous Waste Management Policies and Practices in Asian Countries. Tokyo: Asian Productivity Organization. 11 A 1999 amendment to the Waste Disposal Act called on SME firms to create their own waste disposal organizations and cooperate in waste management. 10. 13.

(23) metals, including chromium, nickel, zinc, lead and more. Although heavy metals are naturally occurring in the environment, the higher concentrations of these substances through human industry make these substances highly toxic in the human body and surrounding environment. For instance, chronic exposure to hexavalent chromium has been linked to scarring and cancer of the lungs 12, and the banning of lead paint, lead pipes and tetraethyl lead (the key additive in leaded gasoline) after industrial lead poisoning incidents (involving brain, kidney and cardiovascular damage and death) and public health concerns shows the dangers associated with this element. Some EAF facilities can also test positive for arsenic in their waste output. In short, EAF dust is classified as a hazardous waste material because of its potential to leach into the ground and contaminate ground water and soil.. 政治大 industry has implemented a variety of technology-based systems to a.) capture and filter 立. To counteract the negative impact from EAF powders, the global and domestic steel. emissions and b.) store and eventually extract useful components from these powders for reuse. ‧ 國. 學. and, in some cases, to sell. In cases where extraction is not possible due to a lack of capital or technology and expertise, long-term storage is the only viable option from an environmental. ‧. standpoint.. Emissions, composed of both gas and airborne EAF powder, are classified according to. y. Nat. sit. when they are generated in the steelmaking process. Emissions produced in the furnace during. al. er. io. melting are called “primary off-gases” and account for 95% of total emissions — or about 10. n. times more gas than is produced after melting. Secondary emissions come about during scrap. Ch. i n U. v. handling, charging and tapping as well as when fumes escape the furnace through the electrode. engchi. openings or other leakage points. The steel industry at large has developed four main captivation systems (typically used in combination) to manage all steelmaking emissions: a “4th hole” system for primary off-gases as well as a canopy hood, a doghouse system or total building evacuation for secondary off-gases. The 4th hole system captures emissions from the melting stage using an opening in the furnace beside the area where electrodes protrude. Some older facilities still operate with only 4th hole extraction, disregarding secondary emissions collection entirely. A canopy hood can be installed above the furnace, charging area and/or refining area in a partially. See Langrrd, S. (1990). One hundred years of chromium and cancer: A review of epidemiological evidence and selected case reports. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 17(2): 189-214. 12. 14.

(24) open-air facility to suck in secondary emissions. The larger the storage capacity of canopy hood systems, the greater their effectiveness in keeping secondary air pollution out of the atmosphere. However, these systems can be costly and consume power. A doghouse, or furnace enclosure, is a larger structure built over and mostly enclosing the furnace area inside a partially open-air facility. Doghouses passively direct fumes out a single opening to the filters and may also help to reduce noise emissions. A particularly large doghouse can capture emissions from charging as well. Finally, total building evacuation is possible when an EAF facility is totally sealed and fumes are collected from an opening in the roof area before they are filtered and released into the atmosphere. The European Commission recommends total building evacuation to capture the most comprehensive spectrum of emissions, especially those containing harmful PCDD/F.. 政治大. Figure 3 depicts the three main systems of air pollution collection.. 立. Figure 3: Three air pollution collection systems. ‧. ‧ 國. 學 sit. y. Nat. al. er. io. Source: European Commissions BAT guidelines adopted 2012. v. n. After emissions captivation through one of the systems above, gases undergo filtration,. Ch. i n U. also referred to as purification or abatement. Purification happens when the offending particulate. engchi. components of emissions are removed either through a wet process using high-energy scrubbers (that entrain particles in wastewater and remove them as sedimentation), a semi-wet process that applies water to off-gasses before filtering them through expensive electrostatic precipitators (machines that negatively charge particles in the air and magnetically attract them to metal plates) or a “dry” method using bag filters made of specially engineered textiles. Relatively lowtech bag filters are used in most EAF facilities around the world, although they are limited by their intolerance to very high temperatures. For this reason, the ducts that connect the gas inputs to the purification system are often cooled by dilution with air or with circulating water. Importantly, filtration removes most of the heavy metals from industrial off-gas with the exception of mercury, which cannot be eliminated by filtration or electrostatic precipitation. A. 15.

(25) benefit of this popular dry method of pollution control is that it produces no wastewater in need of further treatment. The extraction of useful heavy metals from collected EAF waste powder occurs thanks to advanced techniques using specialized heat-based processes (pyrometallurgical methods) and chemical solutions (hydrometallurgical methods). According to Boyanov and Baev (2009), zinc is the heavy metal most commonly extracted from EAF powders because zinc-coated galvanized steel is the most common form of scrap metal fed to EAF furnaces. However, the high amounts of halogen (nonmetallic elements that bind with hydrogen to form acids) in the powder can interfere with the extraction of zinc and other useful heavy metals. One heat-based method of EAF powder refining and heavy metals extraction described in. 政治大 mixture to 1200 degrees Celsius, which turns 95% of the chlorine and 59% of the fluorine into a 立 Boyanov and Baev begins with placing the powder in a specialized furnace and heating the. gaseous substance. The Taiwan Steel Union in 1996 began implementing a Waelz Kiln. ‧ 國. 學. procedure to process 50,000 tons each year of EAF dust to extract zinc oxides (Cheng, 2003). Finally, zinc may be leached through “washing” using a solution of water and Na2CO3. ‧. (molecules of sodium carbonate). Washing allows over 75% of the chlorine and less than 20% of the flourine to dissolve into the solution. Some technicians also recommend a preliminary stage. y. Nat. sit. of isolating some elements via magnetic separation.. al. er. io. In addition, EAF powders can also be reconstituted in other useful products such as glass-. n. ceramics for use as building materials, road surfacing or refractory materials. With respect to. Ch. i n U. v. slag, Taiwanese law states that it can be either deposited into specialized industry-use landfills or. engchi. turned into road pavement. In the right proportions and using the appropriate methods, these waste products can enhance the strength and/or functionality of the recycled end product. Cheng (2003) stresses that EAF dust recycling is “critical” to efforts for cleaner disposal of the approximately 24,000 tons per year of powder produced by stainless steel facilities in Taiwan, especially since, as a hazardous waste, it cannot be thrown into the nation’s landfills due to concerns over the leaching of heavy metals into soil and groundwater. In short, while the extraction and/or reuse of useful materials from waste powders is beneficial for the environment and possibly the bottom line of the company that can sell the waste product, companies require either technical specialists to do the job in-house, or else enough capital to spend on getting an outside company to complete the job. A small enterprise. 16.

(26) might lack the resources to get the job done, as was the case in Taiwan until recently. A 2012 audit, jointly undertaken by the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) and the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) and published on the EPA website 13, summarizes the huge environmental impact of EAF powder disposal in Taiwan. Every year the industry generates between 180 and 220 thousand metric tons of hazardous dust. As most EAF facilities are not equipped with on-site treatment operations, this industrial waste accumulates in storage containers with slag. Unfortunately, because of a general shortage in recycling and treatment centers catering to EAF refuse, the dust from EAF facilities, when aggregated, had totaled over 500,000 tons before help arrived. The EPA and IDB established four new highcapacity treatment facilities in three factories to gradually reduce the buildup and take care of. 政治大 Lastly, Chou and Fang (2005) highlight the worrisome environmental impact of improper 立. future waste treatment needs.. waste disposal in the face of natural disasters. Their research monitored two million tons of steel. ‧ 國. 學. slag deposited along the coastline in Southern Taiwan between 1984 and 1989, turning the seabed in that area to a mixture of sand and slag (a heavy-metal containing residue from steel. ‧. production that’s more gravel-like in contrast to EAF powder). Starting from 1990-1995, scientists measured relatively little change to the biological content on the seafloor at the dump. y. Nat. sit. site (notably, the site was not monitored during the early years of dumping), but this low-level. al. er. io. impact changed gradually with a steady downward trend in crustacean populations ignited by. n. Typhoon Gloria, which struck the study site in July 1996. Thus, in disturbing unstable. Ch. i n U. v. collections of stored or dumped industrial waste, natural disasters can exacerbate the initial. engchi. environmental damage from steel slag and powders. Surprisingly, however, the same group of scientists determined that slag disposal along the coast had positive impacts on communities of fish because it added to the complexity of their habit, providing more total surface area and small hollow areas for lifecycle activities. Notably, these studies mainly counted populations of species and did not take into account the impact of bioaccumulating heavy metals in the health of animals. Typhoon Morakot in 2009 also caused disturbances for furnace slag waste disposal in Tainan. This powerful storm hit Chao Hsiang recycling center, leaving some steel waste exposed, and subsequent flooding transferred the waste into the surrounding environment. An 13. http://epq.epa.gov.tw/project/projectcp.aspx?proj_id=1012145674 17.

(27) EPA deputy minister confirmed that the spill was likely behind chromium levels testing almost three times higher than the legal limit in the rice-producing areas of Houbi (後壁) Township, Tainan. 14 The next major environmental issues involve air pollution and concerns over greenhouse gas emissions, two issues that go hand in hand. The gases that predominantly comprise EAF emissions include the two greenhouse gases carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide as well as sodium oxides and nitrogen oxides (Ioana & Balescu, 2009). In addition, production emits organic matter such as volatile organic compounds, chlorobenzenes, polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans. The exact composition of polluting emissions depends on four things: the composition of the scrap metal,. 政治大 melting and refining a particular立 grade of steel. Since these emissions intermingle with the management of the melting stage, the refining process, and the length of time required for. powders detailed in the waste management section, their capture/captivation and filtration. ‧ 國. 學. process is nearly identical.. Although carbon is an important alloying component that increases the hardness and. ‧. strength of steel, this element must be managed and often reduced from the molten metal. y. Nat. mixture. This happens through oxidation, especially via a direct injection system of pure oxygen. sit. that combines with the carbon to form carbon dioxide (CO2) and carbon monoxide (CO). Other. al. er. io. than these molecules’ significance as greenhouse gases in man-made climate change, CO can. v. n. also have a direct impact on circulatory system efficiency in people and organisms exposed to. Ch. i n U. the gas, even killing living things by inducing a state of hypoxia (reducing the oxygen carrying. engchi. capacity of red blood cells) through carbon monoxide poisoning. Although there is little if any lethal risk from these greenhouse gas emissions in EAF plants, even in facilities supplementing their electrical energy with chemical energy via fossil fuel combustion, the inevitability of creating these climate-changing off-gases using current technologies and management techniques highlights the importance of continual innovation and technological improvement. Like carbon, sulfur may be considered an impurity in melted steel and excess amounts must be burned away by injecting pure oxygen into the molten metal. An unintended side effect of oxygenation is the creation of sulfur oxides, which impact the environment by dissolving into Chao, V. (2009). Another case of slag contamination found in Tainan. Taipei Times (Nov. 17, 2009) 14. 18.

(28) atmospheric water vapor and forming photochemical smog and acid rain — industrial byproducts that harm human respiratory health and threaten human infrastructure (by gradually dissolving stone structures) as well as acidify fragile ecosystems and hinder the ability of plants to photosynthesize. The relatively fewer impurities in scrap material versus iron ore makes EAF facilities relatively minor players regarding SOx emissions in the steelmaking industry; also, their mostly electricity-based power needs tends to reduce overall emissions from fossil fuel combustion. This will be explained in more detail with respect to nitrogen oxides. Nitrogen oxides (NOx) come in three different forms with respect to steel production: nitric oxide (NO) nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and nitrous oxide (N2O). NO is by far the most prevalent of the three in EAF steelmaking, comprising as much as 90% of total nitrogen oxide. 政治大 and acid rain. The majority of NOx emissions in EAF facilities comes from the high-temperature 立 emissions (Chan et al., 2003). These pollutants, together with SOx, are key components of smog. oxidation of atmospheric nitrogen that gets pulled into the furnace through various openings. ‧ 國. 學. (especially the passageway for removing slag). Nitrogen may also contaminate the oxygen supply of direct injection equipment, entering the hot furnace this way. Chan et al. (2003) states. ‧. that the best techniques for nitrogen oxide abatement in steel production involve reducing the levels of nitrogen and oxygen in the furnace, by sealing the furnace and/or purifying the oxygen. sit. y. Nat. injection supply.. al. er. io. Other than high-temperature oxidation, two other chemical processes typically result in. n. high industrial NOx emissions and both relate to the burning of fossil fuels. Most EAF facilities. Ch. i n U. v. worldwide are powered principally from a three-phase utility-based generator, which means that. engchi. they defer most of their fuel-related NOx production to power companies. However, many EAF furnaces supplement their electrode-based melting unit with oxygen-fueled burners, powered by natural gas. Natural gas combustion does form nitrogen oxides, although its advocates emphasize that it produces fewer overall emissions than the combustion of other fossil fuels like oil and coal. 15 In fact natural gas, composed mostly of methane, mostly releases carbon dioxide and water during combustion, but environmentalists often point to the gas-harvesting process of hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”) as the most worrisome aspect of this substance. Fracking uses pressurized, chemically treated water to break through rock deposits deep beneath the soil and release the odorless gas. This process releases methane — a much more powerful GHG than 15. See http://naturalgas.org/environment/naturalgas/ 19.

(29) carbon dioxide — into the atmosphere, while the chemically treated water can severely pollute groundwater and render valuable freshwater reserves unfit for human consumption. Also of concern, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) result when “organic” carbon-based substances like solvents and paints are charged to the furnace. Since VOCs have a very low boiling point, they easily convert from a liquid or solid form to a gas. In the environment, VOCs are a key component in the formation of smog. Their effect on human health is gradual and difficult to measure, but manmade VOCs from off-gassing products in the home have been linked to respiratory problems, allergies and immune system deficiencies in infants and children. 16 The U.S.’ Environmental Protection Agency warns that high doses of the most harmful VOCs can cause eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches, loss of coordination, nausea,. 政治大 Chlorobenzenes are common manufactured chlorine-based chemicals, especially useful in 立. liver, kidney and central nervous system damage. Some can cause cancer in animals.. the creation of herbicides and pesticides, dyestuffs and rubber. With their high boiling point, they. ‧ 國. 學. generally are a byproduct of melting scrap material that had been exposed to the chemical during its previous lifecycle. Chlorobenzenes are categorized as having a “mild to moderate” toxicity. ‧. and a relatively short persistence rate in air (3.5 days), water (less than a day) and soil (several months). The Occupational Safety and Health Administration in U.S. regulates acceptable levels. y. Nat. sit. of the chemical in factories directly manufacturing and using it, whereas the airborne levels. al. n. may be excreted by functioning lungs or a healthy urinary tract.. Ch. er. io. produced as EAF off-gas fall plenty short of these parameters. After exposure, chlorobenzenes. i n U. v. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are only comprised of hydrogen and carbon. engchi. atoms that form different “aromatic ring” structures, and they tend to arise from the incomplete combustion of organic matter (including fossil fuels, wood, incense, tobacco and more). Although they can be formed naturally (e.g. in forest fires and, some physicists speculate, within the first two billion years of the Big Bang), high concentrations of PAH are considered a pollutant because they can harm human health and are persistent in the environment. Human exposure to hazardous PAH molecules tends to come from breathing polluted air, ingesting food or water contaminated with PAH, or making direct contact with contaminated soil or oils. Inside the body they spread and target fatty tissues and filtering organs like the liver and kidneys, Mendell, M.J. (2007). Indoor residential chemical emissions as risk factors for respiratory and allergic effects in children: a review. Indoor Air Journal, 17: 259-277. 16. 20.

(30) exiting the body through waste matter within a few days. Studies of mice have shown the potential for reproductive system damage, birth defects and immune system impairment after exposure to high levels of PAH, but these symptoms have not yet been observed in humans. 17 The ring structure or “weight” of PAH molecules determines their potential impact on human and environmental health. For instance, benzo[a]pyrene, a PAH molecule found in some degree in iron and steel industry emissions as well as coal tar and cigarette smoke, is mutagenic (able to alter the DNA of living cells) and highly carcinogenic. Yang et al. (2002) conducted a study to determine the PAH profile of emissions from steel and iron industries in Southern Taiwan, concluding that low-weight PAH molecules are most prevalent in both air and dust emissions, and dust includes “heavier” strains of carcinogenic PAH molecules (less than 1% of. 政治大 coal or heavy oil, however, electric arc furnace facilities generally produce less PAH molecules 立. the total mass of PAH emissions on average). Compared to iron and steel facilities dependent on. by more than a third.. ‧ 國. 學. The last two air pollutants fall under the “Dirty Dozen” 18 category of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). All POPs have adverse effects for human and ecosystem health, and both air. ‧. and water can transmit them throughout an environment, even around the world (which creates problems of environmental justice, as POPs are created in one region or nation but then migrate. y. Nat. sit. to and cause problems in another). POPs tend not to break down but to persist in environments. al. er. io. for long periods of time, often in the food chain. The Dirty Dozen became a distinct category of. n. POPs in the run-up to a 2001 United Nations treaty signed by over 90 countries in Stockholm,. Ch. i n U. v. Sweden, committing signatories to reduce or cease all production, use and/or release of the 12. engchi. toxic compounds. To this day the Stockholm Convention continues to pursue research, information sharing and international regulatory efforts dealing with POPs. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) are chlorine-based semi-volatile organic compounds. Their superb insulating qualities made them ideal for use as coolants and lubricants in electrical United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Solid Waste. (2008). Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) fact sheet. Retrieved Sept. 21, 2014 at: http://www.epa.gov/osw/hazard/wastemin/minimize/factshts/pahs.pdf 18 The “Dirty Dozen” list is comprised of the following 12 pollutants: aldrin, chlordane, dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT), dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene, mirex, toxaphene, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (dioxins) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (furans). It’s interesting to note the ubiquity of the element chlorine in so many of these highly toxic compounds. 17. 21.

(31) equipment, including transformers and capacitors. Heavy exposure to PCB in the workplace has been linked to skin conditions, and some studies point to possible liver damage and cancer of the liver and biliary tract. The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified a group of 12 PCB compounds relevant to EAF production that act like dioxins — carcinogenic compounds that bioaccumulate (especially winding up in the fatty tissues of animals) and are highly toxic, causing problems in human’s and other organism’s reproductive, immune and endocrine systems. Breastfeeding infants are particularly vulnerable to ingesting high concentrations of PCBs through contaminated breast milk. Also, according to the European Commission, the exact source of PCB in the steelmaking process is not currently known, but the pollutant might derive from scrap. As is the case with some other pollutants mentioned earlier, as higher quality scrap. 政治大 additives, certain pollutants from EAF may become more rare and EAF emissions may become 立. becomes available with the gradual phase-out of steel products made with now-regulated harmful. less harmful overall to the environment. In effect, EAF facilities can take a proactive stance. ‧ 國. 學. toward producing higher quality steel as well as lessening their pollution emissions by regulating the quality of scrap material they process.. ‧. Unfortunately, filters, ESP and scrubbers are generally not efficient at removing PCB from off-gas; some tests conducted in Europe and reported by the European Commission found. y. Nat. sit. treatment systems that were wholly ineffective at abating the harmful substance. Thus, if PCBs. al. er. io. arise in steelmaking emissions, they will inevitably make their way to the general atmosphere.. n. Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/F), classified as aromatic. Ch. i n U. v. organohalogn compounds along with PCB, are created in chemical reactions taking place. engchi. especially during the melting phase of steelmaking. The creation of PCDD/F, also called de novo (“from the beginning” or “afresh, anew” in Latin) synthesis, involves molecules of chlorine (e.g. those molecules in PCB) binding with carbon and other elements under heat and pressure. These compounds are also known as dioxins, whose persistent and dire effects for human health and ecological systems were explained earlier. The Stockholm Convention recommends an “off-gas conditioning system” to minimize this and other harmful substances before they reach the bag filter. An off-gas conditioning system involves the collection, cooling and ducting of potential air pollutants to the baghouse, and it must be molded to precise dimensions and involve sufficient gas circulation and techniques for bringing gas temperatures down to below 200 degrees Celsius — otherwise dioxins may actually. 22.

(32) be created via chemical reactions within the conditioning system. Stockholm Convention documents also mention a different system of post-combustion afterburners (to combust carbon monoxide and hydrogen molecules and/or to de-chlorinate PCDD/F with temperatures over 800 degrees Celsius) followed by rapid quenching (cooling) as well as injections of absorbent, activated carbon or lignite coke upstream of the baghouse to further reduce off-gas pollution (the injections also decrease mercury pollution levels but may increase dust volume by as much as 2%). Unfortunately, this system requires supplementary fuel and yet another refractory lined combustion chamber. This somewhat reduced efficiency and the additional space and capital requirements of the method along with the inconsistent results 19 of post-combustion afterburners make these techniques sub-optimal for many EAF facilities.. 政治大 become absorbed in dust, as evidenced by EAF powders testing positive for trace amounts of 立. Finally, baghouse/bag filters can effectively collect some large, gaseous compounds that. PCDD/F. Reducing powder emissions also minimizes PCDD/F pollution, according to. ‧ 國. 學. Stockholm Convention documents. 20 The baghouse/bag filter stage ends a typical off-gas conditioning process, with the exception that continuous monitoring of off-gas and air pollution. ‧. parameters — with an eye to continually taking steps to optimize the system — also generates positive environmental outcomes. Unfortunately, scrap preheating, while beneficial from an. y. Nat. al. er. io. and PAH.. sit. energy conservation standpoint, actually increases the production of PCDD/F as well as PCBs. n. The continuous casting process described in the overview of EAF steelmaking cuts down. Ch. i n U. v. on pollution emissions by shortening the time in which hot steel is directly exposed to the. engchi. atmosphere. The less exposure time, the less opportunities for dioxins to form via de novo synthesis and the less likely particulate matter will evaporate from the molten mixture. Also, decreased fuel use from continuous casting limits the air pollution that would have resulted from intensified fossil fuel combustion. Finally, because continuous casting improves overall yield, the method reduces pollution from each phase of steelmaking by making more efficient use of raw materials, thereby cutting down on the number of furnace chargings required to produce the The Stockholm convention paper (p. 208) mentions that de-chlorination methods were “not able to consistently meet the Canada-wide standard of 100pg TEQ/Nm3.” 20 These documents also mention the possibility that “selective catalytic reduction technology” that decreases nitrogen oxides and PCDD/F emissions may one day become a standard technology in off-gas conditioning. 19. 23.

跨部門企業環境投資的影響: 以正當性理論與 利害關係人理論分析台灣鋼鐵產業 - 政大學術集成

跨部門企業環境投資的影響: 以正當性理論與利害關係人理論分析台灣鋼鐵產業 - 政大學術集成