Environmental protection

Nornickel's contribution to the Environment national project

Relevant UN SDGs
The Environment national project is aimed at significantly improving the environmental conditions and delivering a positive impact on the health of people in Russiahttps://ecologyofrussia.ru/proekt/.
Relevant federal projects:
Clean Country (results of Clean Norilsk)
Clean Air
Clean Water
Conservation of Unique Water Bodies
Biodiversity Conservation and Ecotourism Development (results of the Big Scientific Expedition)
Implementing the Best Available Technologies
Key focus areas
Key projects
Key results
Waste
  • Clean Norilsk
  • Implementation of initiatives and projects contributing to increased waste recycling and treatment
For more details, please see the Sustainable Waste Management subsection.

As part of the Clean Norilsk programme, 347 dilapidated buildings were dismantled, over 80 kt of scrap metal and 1 mt of waste were collected and removed, and an area of 4.1 million m2 was cleaned as at the end of 2023

Direct recycling at the Company’s own facility rose by 4% y‑o‑y to 18.5 mt

In 2023, in‑house waste disposal remained flat y‑o‑y at 29.9 mt.



Water
  • Improving the closed water circuit
  • Preventing pollution from entering rivers
  • Cleaning polluted water bodies and their shores
For more details, please see the Water section.

In 2023, 83% of all water used by the Company was recycled and reused

Total wastewater discharge decreased by 12.5% y‑o‑y to 147 mcm

13.3 kt of wastewater and 1 kt of waste were collected by trash interceptor vessels



Air
  • Sulphur Programme
  • Air quality monitoring and forecasting system
For more details, please see the Air section.

Air pollutant emissions reduced to 1.7 mt (down 6.1% y‑o‑y)

In October 2023, the Company launched comprehensive testing of the first line of sulphur dioxide recovery from off‑gases generated by flash smelters at Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant



Biodiversity
  • Big Scientific Expedition
  • Cooperation agreements with the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, natural reserves within our footprint
For more details, please see the Biodiversity section.

Phase two of the Big Scientific Expedition ended in 2023

Two new species discovered by the Big Scientific Expedition

Two innovative scientific solutions introduced into assessment of ecosystem health

IIEHIntegral Indicator of Ecosystem Health. – a new method for integral assessment of ecosystem health



Technology
  • Most of Nornickel's projects with a positive environmental effect rely on technological advances


For more details on innovative environmental projects, please see the Innovation section.