The World Bank offers information that covers a wide range of industries and includes guidelines specific to each industry. The guidelines are straightforward and require little or no understanding of legal or environmental issues. They stress equipment performance and the resultant pollutant exposure to the environment. The general criteria for the iron and steel industry are divided into noise, air, waste water, and solid-waste categories. The guidelines then suggest ways to reduce noise.
Different categories address the various processing steps at a mill.
Within each processing step, effluent limits are established for common pollutants. The guidelines specify additional criteria for maximum 24-hour peak concentrations. Waste-water criteria is expressed as the weight of pollutant per unit weight of metal produced. This section then describes common pollution-control equipment used to reduce pollutants. At two inches thick, the World Bank's environmental-guidelines publication can appear imposing.