The UK-based International Council on Mining & Minerals (ICMM) has launched an on-line toolkit on materials stewardship, incorporating industry specific tools and case studies of materials stewardship in practice.
The Toolkit complements the previously published ICMM Guidance document, Maximising Value: Guidance on implementing materials stewardship in the minerals and metals value chain. The Guidance document focused upon why materials stewardship is important and the new toolkit focuses on how to implement the guidance document.
ICMM reports that materials stewardship is about companies contributing to sustainability by making the best use of intelligent design and application of technology to increase recoveries by extending the resource base through reduced losses, by reducing the use of materials per unit production, by diverting “waste” materials to productive uses and by restoring resources such as land and water to productive use. Materials stewardship is about managing materials throughout their life cycle.
Dr John Atherton, ICMM’s Director: Materials Stewardship said, “…Materials stewardship is based on a sense of shared responsibility for the resources we utilize and the materials we create. This tool kit will assist companies in delivering this through good practice…”