Environmental problems of Russian metallurgy

Scientific and technical in the modern world is being accompanied by a shar p rise in the consumption of natural resources. At the same time, industria l and household wastes are also being generated at accelerated rates. The q uantity of such wastes created in the industrially developed nations has in creased between two- and threefold over the last 20 years. The amount of so lid wastes generated annually per capita is 744 kg in the U.S., 881 kg in A ustria, 635 kg in Canada, 449 kg in the Netherlands, and 344 kg in Japan. T he problem of making efficient use of wastes is closely related to the effi ciently of industry in general and to the protection of the environment. Interest has never been greater in the processing, use, and removal of wast es: these matters are being examined very seriously in the development of n ew product standards, in the strategic planning of industrial companies, an d in the mass media. Presented below is an article by Academicians L. I. Fr antsenyuk and P. I. Yugov which discusses the possibilities of having metal lurgical plants recycle and make efficient use of their own waste products.