OREANDA-NEWS.  December 12, 2012. During the II Congress of Russian Ecologists held at the end of November 2012, the All-Russian competition "Environmental Leader in Russia" held its award-winning ceremony, which was organised under the auspices of the international forum "Global Experience and the Russian Economy", reported the press-centre of RZD.

Russian Railways was awarded an honorary certificate as "Environmental Leader in Russia-2012".

One of the priorities at Russian Railways is to implement the Company’s "Environmental Strategy".

Thanks to the implementation of the measures planned in the document for the period 2008-2011, compared to 2007, the baseline year, harmful emissions into the atmosphere from stationary sources decreased by 43% to 84,100 tons in 2011, while the discharge of inadequately treated sewage into surface water was reduced by 20% and amounted to 11.9 million cubic metres in 2011, with wastewater discharges without treatment falling by 33% to 0.8 million cubic metres in the same year. Waste generation decreased by 34% and in 2011 amounted to 1.83 million tons. At the same time, the waste recycling as a source of secondary materials and energy resources in 2011 was 38%.

These reductions in the environmental impact were achieved by carrying out a technical modernisation of the sector, implementing an environmental management system and monitoring the impact on the environment.

The main goal of Russian Railways regarding ecology is environmental welfare and human health.

The strategic guidelines laid down in the Company’s Environmental Strategy provide for a reduction in the negative impact on the environment of 35% by 2015 and 70% by 2030, the introduction of efficient resource-saving environmental technologies and eco-friendly materials, a rational use of natural resources and a reduction of energy use in the transportation process, in particular by cutting specific energy consumption for traction by 14.4% and fuel by 9.1%.