Corby Works, located in Northamptonshire in the heart of England manufactures approximately 250,000 tonnes per year of thin-wall welded tube from steel strip for use in a range of applications, including construction, engineering, and energy infrastructure market sectors.

• Greenhouse gas emissions
• Resource use and waste management
• Water extraction
• Transport impacts
• Employment and skills
• Local communities
• Performance data

Greenhouse gas emissions

The only greenhouse gas emissions from Corby are emissions of carbon dioxide resulting from the combustion of natural gas in heat treatment processes, in particular reheat furnaces used in conjunction with stretch reduction and normalisation of cold-formed tubes. Indirectly, the site contributes to CO₂ emissions associated with the consumption of electricity for conveyance, pumping, cooling etc.

Key focus areas for reduction in CO₂ relate to the efficient use of natural gas on furnace operations and electrical efficiency. Initiatives include:

• Upgrading gas-fired furnace control hardware and software
• New compressors and smart controller to precisely meet the site compressed air requirements
• Upgrading energy efficient lighting and motors
• Improvements in energy monitoring to identify areas of energy wastage and opportunities to improve
• Reconfiguration of the site processes to improve material flow and handling

Corby is covered by a new energy efficiency governance process established within Tata Steel UK, whereby its energy performance has been compared to a benchmark as part of a gap analysis exercise. The site has generated a range of schemes aimed at bridging the gap with best practice. Internal targets for improvement have been established and Tata Steel UK’s Chief Technical Officer and his direct reports review the progress of each site towards these on a quarterly basis.

Resource use and waste management

In line with our objective to reduce / eliminate wastes to landfill, we have enacted a number of waste reduction strategies at our plant in Corby. Initiatives include:

• Total site waste management contract awarded in 2011 which has identified new opportunities to divert wastes from landfill to recycling and recovery routes
• Recycling of Dry Mixed Recyclable (DMR) wastes was introduced in 2011, whereby paper, cardboard and other recyclable materials are segregated at source
• Monitoring of process parameters, ie coolant strength, paint thickness, to enable efficient usage of raw materials
• Through-process usage of steel is monitored to maximise production of finished tubes and minimisation scrap steel

Water extraction

Corby has enacted a number of improvements to optimise its water consumption, for example:

• Use of open evaporative cooling tower systems to cool re-circulating water in order to minimise raw water use
• Monitoring of potable and industrial water use to quickly identify leaks and initiate repairs

Transport impacts

Transport impacts are managed centrally within Tata Steel and, as such, it is not possible to disaggregate the transport impacts associated with the production and delivery of specific products from specific locations from the total estimate of Tata Steel transport impacts.

• As shipping and logistics activities are managed centrally within Tata Steel it is not possible to disaggregate the CO₂ emissions associated with the production and delivery of specific products from specific locations from the total estimate of Tata Steel transport impacts. See the general page for [information on Tata Steel’s transport impacts] and some of the steps we are taking to reduce these.

Employment and skills

We apply a common approach to employment and skills at all, of its sites. See the general page for information on what [Tata Steel is doing to advance the learning and development of its employees].

Local communities

Corby engages in a range of community initiatives, for example:

• Building relationships with local schools and colleges, facilitating work experience placements, offering engineering apprenticeships
• Supporting a local charity and organising fundraising activities at Corby during the year
• A number of employees volunteer as marshals for the annual 'Kids of Steel' triathlon event organised for local school children

Performance data

*internal metrics used for period before site was in EU ETS scope