The AK&M rating agency has published a comparative analysis of the main indicators of the contribution of large companies to the formation of a closed-loop economy. The study was prepared for the annual report. INFRAGRIN "Regions of Russia: formation of a closed-loop economy and development of natural potential". The analysis includes indicators of effective water use and reuse of industrial waste for 2024. The study analyzes the results of more than 30 major corporations.
The Agency notes that, despite significant efforts to transition to a closed-loop economy, the largest corporations are showing a decrease in the total share of recycled waste. Over the past three years, the total volume of waste generated by the largest companies has increased by 0.7%, while the physical volume of disposed waste has decreased by 17.7%. If in 2022 the average percentage of industrial waste disposal was 25%, then in 2024 it decreased to 20%. The situation with water reuse is slightly better, as the share of recycled and recycled water has remained virtually unchanged over the past three years, averaging 79.3%.
Seligdar is the leader in waste reuse among mining companies, with 66.7% of waste going to recycling. Tatneft has become the leader in waste reuse in the oil and gas sector. Here 93.2% of the waste of 69 items is sent for recycling. Uralchem demonstrates the best performance in the chemical industry, where 87.2% of the generated waste was disposed of in 2024. Tatenergo has become a leader among energy companies. In 2024, 84.7% of waste was disposed of. Among the transport companies, Russian Railways is the most responsible, with 84.5% of its waste recycled. X5 is the leader in waste reuse among the largest retail chains, 76% of waste goes to recycling and reuse.
The main consumers of water resources are enterprises of the energy and oil and gas complex. The largest companies in this sector are spending substantial funds to switch to a closed-loop water consumption. In oil and gas production and energy, the use of recycled water averaged 75.7% and 78.2%, respectively. Gazprom is significantly increasing its circulating water supply capacity among companies in these industries. In 2022, 11.9 billion cubic meters of water were reused, and in 2024, almost 14 billion cubic meters were used in closed systems. In the reporting year, the company allocated 8 billion rubles for the construction of wastewater treatment plants and recycled water supply systems.
Companies in the metallurgical and mining sectors have achieved the greatest success. In 2024, 88% of all used water was reused, for example, in the chemical industry this figure was 73.7%. However, in the extractive industries in recent years, there has been a tendency to reduce the physical volume of reused water. It has decreased by 2% in three years. Giants such as Norilsk Nickel and RUSAL have reduced the volume of recycled water by 10% and 11%, respectively, in three years. Nevertheless, companies are actively developing closed water circulation systems. Thus, RUSAL plans to provide all major production processes with a closed system by 2027.
The leaders in terms of water reuse in 2024 were Seligdar, Severstal, and NLMK.
You can view the research on the website The AK&M Rating Agency or in the annual report INFRAGRIN "Regions of Russia: formation of a closed-loop economy and development of natural potential".
