The mill scale is a waste from the iron and steel industry. Due to the high content of iron in the form of oxides, it is an attractive material for the recovery of metallic iron by reduction. The product of mill scale reduction is an iron with a very extended surface and a high affinity for oxygen. The smaller iron particles are, the easier it is for spontaneous rapid oxidation, which can be linked to pyrophoricity. This article presents results of experiments using the TG/DTA thermal analysis method aimed at verifying the possibility of recovering iron from the mill scale by a reduction with carbon monoxide at 850 °C, 950 °C, and 1050 °C, taking into account the phenomenon of secondary oxidation in contact with oxygen from air at temperatures of 300 °C, 350 °C, and 400 °C. Two forms of mill scale were used for tests, in the original state and after grinding to develop the surface.

The high level of competition in the manufacturing industry requires the creation of working conditions that allow for the efficient implementation of production processes. One of the solutions enabling the adaptation of production stations to improve the work performed by employees is the implementation of a management system based on the Lean Manufacturing (LM) philosophy. The purpose of this article was to determine the potential impact of the implemented LM tools, in the form of 5S and standardization, on the efficiency of the production process in specific production conditions. The methodology of the conducted research included: obtaining data before and after the implementation of LM tools (in total 12 months). The data was used to determine the effectiveness of individual operations, and then to conduct a comparative analysis using statistical tests. It was found, among others, that the implementation of LM tools resulted in an increase in the efficiency of the manufacturing process by about 11 percentage points. The obtained results confirm the thesis that a manufacturing company, in order to maintain its position on a competitive market, can improve the efficiency of processes by using tools such as LM. The selection of tools must be adequate to the implemented processes, so that they bring measurable increase in efficiency.

Waste management is a very important issue for the sustainable development of the modern world. The metallurgical industry is an industry that has been generating and still generates large amounts of waste that may have a negative impact on the natural environment and human health. Metallurgical waste comes from current production and is collected in landfills/heaps. Any research enabling the management of waste, including metallurgical waste, is justified. This study presents the results of research on waste that can be used in the production of aggregates – research related to natural radioactivity and the introduction of hazardous substances into water or soil. The study highlights the diversified chemical composition of metallurgical waste, which requires detailed research of the waste before it is directed to the production of aggregates. Aggregate, as a building material, is subject to specific legal (normative) regulations. Metallurgical waste that meets the requirements for the protection of the natural environment and human health should be used for the production of building materials - it is an environmentally friendly activity that implements the principles of sustainable development.

(1) Background: accident rates prove the uneven development of the member countries in the area of work safety. Remedial actions and structural programmes should take into account, e.g., the level of work safety in all European Union (EU) countries. Aim: the identification of differences in the level of work safety in the production sector of EU countries, especially the so-called “old” and “new” EU countries. (2) Methods: for each country UE (in 2008–2018), the relative risk (RR) of an accident at work was determined and a comparative analysis was conducted. (3) Results: an increase in the RR of an accident at work was observed along with an increase in the GDP of a given country. It was found that the level of occupational safety in Sweden and the United Kingdom is higher than in other countries, and lower in Spain and Portugal. In the three largest economies of the EU, Germany, France, and Italy, the RR of the accident in the industrial sector in relation to the national data is one of the lowest in the entire EU, not exceeding 1.3. In The Netherlands, an increase of 1.7 RR of fatal accidents in the industrial sector was observed between 2008 and 2018. (4) Conclusions: RR in the manufacturing sector of the so-called “old” EU is higher than in the so-called “new” EU, which may result from the implementation of Industry 4.0 assumptions in the “old” EU. The presented results and conclusions may be useful in shaping the EU policy in the field of sustainable development of production sectors of individual member countries.

This article presents the results of a study on metallurgical slag reduction using biomass such as Spent Coffee Grounds (SCGs). The proposed solution is a new aspect of searching for alternatives to standard reducers used in pyrometallurgical processes of metal production. Its gasification yields significant amounts of hydrocarbons, which are excellent reducing agents in such processes. The research results of copper slag reduction with the use of SCG biomass indicate this process is characterised by lower carbon dioxide emissions compared with the process using solid fuels such as coke and coke breeze. The addition of SCG as the reducer ensures the decrease in copper content in the slag to 0.32 wt.%, which corresponds to the increase of so-called relative decopperisation degree even up to 96.9%. As the decopperisation degree of slag increases, significantly more intense reduction in lead oxides during the reduction process is observed. The smallest lead content in waste slag of 0.91 wt.% was obtained for the slag reduction process with 7.56 wt.% of SCG as the reducer and the process duration of 1.5 h.