"Learning Climate Crisis Response On Site" Environmental Field Trip at Youngpoong Seokpo Smelter

Haepyeong Middle School Students Visit Youngpoong Seokpo Smelter
Experience Real-World Environmental Management and Zero-Liquid Discharge Technology
Field Trip Highlights Industry-Education Collaboration for Sustainability

Youngpoong Seokpo Smelter announced on August 28 that on the previous day, about 30 students and staff members from Haepyeong Middle School in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, visited the smelter to observe the non-ferrous metal production process and environmentally friendly facilities.

Gumi Haepyeong Middle School Students Participate in Environmental Field Trip at Yeongpung Seokpo Smelter. Yeongpung

Since last year, Haepyeong Middle School has been designated by the Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education as a research school for climate crisis response education, and has been operating a variety of programs focused on sustainability and the environment. This visit was also conducted as part of these programs.

During the visit, students toured the zinc and non-ferrous metal production sites and learned about the smelter's environmental management system, including the world's first zero-liquid discharge system introduced at Seokpo Smelter. After touring the site, students remarked, "It was fascinating to see that technologies like the zero-liquid discharge system, which purifies and reuses all wastewater generated during manufacturing, are actually being used in industrial settings," and added, "We realized that the environment and technology can advance together."

Teachers from Haepyeong Middle School commented, "It was a meaningful experience for students to encounter the possibility of coexistence between industry and the environment through real-life examples," and evaluated the field trip as "an excellent demonstration of the direction climate crisis response education should take for a sustainable future."

Established in 1970, Youngpoong Seokpo Smelter is Korea's first modern zinc smelter and has grown into a global non-ferrous metal smelter with the world's fourth-largest zinc production capacity. In particular, the non-ferrous metal products produced by Youngpoong have been registered with the London Metal Exchange (LME) since 1988 and are recognized for their outstanding quality in the global market.

Youngpoong has been strengthening its commitment to environmental management and is pursuing the realization of a sustainable smelter through large-scale environmental investments. In 2019, the company established an 'Environmental Improvement Innovation Plan' and has since executed an annual environmental budget of approximately 100 billion won, with cumulative investments reaching about 442.6 billion won as of last year.

A representative example is the 'zero-liquid discharge system' introduced in 2021, the first of its kind in the world. This system recycles all wastewater generated during the smelting process back into the production process without any external discharge, with a total investment of 46 billion won. As a result, the facility saves approximately 880,000 cubic meters of industrial water annually, contributing to the protection of water resources in the Nakdong River. This technology has been patented and is now attracting attention as a benchmark in the secondary battery and metal industries.

In addition, a cutoff wall and groundwater collection facilities have been installed along a 3-kilometer perimeter outside the smelter to prevent contaminated groundwater from flowing into the Nakdong River. The entire plant floor is equipped with a triple-layer barrier structure to fundamentally block soil contamination. Advanced environmental facilities such as an ozone injection-type nitrogen oxide reduction device, a newly established oxygen plant, and a remote monitoring system have also been introduced to improve air quality.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.