The new plant is to process about 200,000 tonnes of recycled steel annually, documents show.<\/p>\n
Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop on the new steel mill. <\/p>\n
Consent has been granted, subject to conditions. <\/p>\n
The project aims to reduce structural steel imports, as well as the amount of scrap steel being exported. <\/p>\n
Green Steel already has collection yards in Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton, Put\u0101ruru and Christchurch. <\/p>\n
These yards recover metal resources from end-of-life vehicles, sheet metal and beams.<\/p>\n
The project is expected to create about 200 jobs in the region. <\/p>\n
New Zealand does not currently reuse steel because most scrap metal is exported, documents said.<\/p>\n
The site is 53ha and rural, at 61 Hampton Downs Rd, Te Kauwhata.<\/p>\n
National Green Steel is a privately owned company, for which the sole director and majority shareholder is Vipan Garg, a New Zealand citizen. <\/p>\n
His wife is the only other shareholder. <\/p>\n
Reinforcing steel on a construction site \u2013 the new mill is aimed at reducing the need to import steel. <\/p>\n
The two are also the shareholders of National Steel, the operator of a major metal recycling operation based in Manukau, with collection yards in other New Zealand locations. <\/p>\n
The proposal is that scrap steel collected and processed by National Steel and now exported for recycling will instead be processed at Green Steel\u2019s Hampton Downs site.<\/p>\n
The steel will be turned into construction steel, predominantly for the New Zealand market.<\/p>\n
To the north, across Hampton Downs Rd, is the Hampton Downs Motorsport Park. <\/p>\n
To the northwest on Harness Rd is a WEL Networks substation, a Gull self-service petrol station and the State Highway 1 Waikato Expressway. <\/p>\n
To the east is the Enviro NZ Hampton Downs Landfill and, beyond that, the Waikato River, and to the south and southeast is Department of Corrections<\/a>-owned land and the Spring Hill Corrections Facility. <\/p>\n Scattered around the area are farms and rural residential properties, some of which border the site. <\/p>\n For the steel mill, electric arc furnace technology is proposed to enable the production of high-quality structural steel with a lower carbon footprint than existing steel processing and production methods used in New Zealand.<\/p>\n The ultimate goal is to reduce the need to import steel.<\/p>\n Two industrial-style buildings 450m long by 100m wide will be constructed at the site. <\/p>\n The project requires 56MW of installed electricity and both WEL Networks and Counties Energy have confirmed there is capacity in either network to supply the site. <\/p>\n The project requires a significant amount of water, most of which will be used for cooling in the steel-making process. <\/p>\n A submission from Waikato-Tainui said it expected all potential effects associated with the new plant would be avoided, remedied or mitigated using the highest standards or measures.<\/p>\n Another submission from Ngaa Muku said conditions had been agreed to. <\/p>\n In assessing the project, Ngaa Muku found its design would assist in achieving the vision and strategy for the Waikato River. <\/p>\n Ngaa Muku and Green Steel have had ongoing consultation during the past two years, which resulted in the establishment of a progressive relationship and greater understanding of the project. <\/p>\n It supported the project as long as conditions were met. <\/p>\nWaikato’s Spring Hill Corrections Facility, near the site of the proposed new steel mill. Photo \/ Corrections<\/p>\n
Hampton Downs neighbours the site of the proposed new plant. Photo \/ John Cowpland<\/p>\n