With almost 15 years of commercial utilisation of more than 20 million tonnes of various iron and steel slags into end use applications such as construction materials, ongoing environmental classification “concerns” continue to detract from this productive and beneficial use of iron and steel slag products.

Following consultation with NSW EPA senior officers on our proposed project, slag is “classified” as a “waste” under the Protection of the Environment and Operations Act (1997) (POEA) and therefore required “classification” for the purposes of the regulation into one of four categories inert, solid, industrial and hazardous wastes.

The overall aim of the project is to undertake the testing programme as described in the NSW EPA Environmental Guidelines and document the findings in a report “classifying” each of the following iron and steel slag materials.

• Granulated Blast Furnace Slag
• Blast Furnace Slag
• Steel Furnace Slag
• Electric Arc Furnace Slag

• Comprehensive report
• Three (3) Material Classification Data Sheets (MCDS), which will contain appropriate summary information about the testing programme and results.

These MCDS sheets are to be issued and used by association members.