By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter

The Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has decided to team up with POSCO for a marine project, which will create aquatic forests and reefs using by-products from steelmaking.

Under the deal, the nation's largest steelmaker will supply steel slag to the ministry for free, so the government agency can utilize the material for the construction of underwater facilities aimed at fostering fish farming locally.

Steel slag is produced during the separation of the molten steel from impurities in furnaces. The material, which occurs as a molten liquid melt, is a complex solution of silicates and oxides that solidifies upon cooling.

It is an environmental-friendly material that captures carbon dioxide during production, and its ferrous contents are known to enhance the growth of marine plants, according to the ministry.

The project is part of the ministry's long-term plan to restore the nation's marine ecosystem.

Growth and development of natural reefs have been slow in local seas in the past few years. Iron necessary for this process is supplied into the sea by rivers passing through forests, but the route has been damaged lately due to a decrease in forests and large construction projects, marine experts say.

POSCO and Pohang Research Institute of Industrial Science & Technology, a technology institute owned by the steel giant, have conducted a pilot operation using slag for marine facilities in sea areas on the nation's southern and eastern coasts for the past 10 years.

As the material turned out to be effective in creating seaweed beds and biologically safe, the steel maker developed Triton, a brand of steel slag which is used to create the reefs.

The ministry will use Triton products in their marine forestation project, as part of efforts to promote metal slag as an eco-friendly material in various industries.

Starting with this project, the two parties plan to form a cooperative to better deal with climate change and build up a foundation for low-carbon industrial growth, they said after signing a memorandum of understanding on the same day.

hckim@koreatimes.co.kr