Within the Group's CSR roadmap , five priorities have been identified to enable Eramet to be – tomorrow even more so than today – a responsible economic player that can respond to the challenges of its time.
1. Become one of the leaders in the metals of the energy transition
From the Lithium project to an R&D program on recycling lithium-ion batteries and a development project in nickel sulfate production, diversifying the Group's activities – particularly in favor of electric mobility batteries – is a priority focus of the Group's development strategy for the coming years.
2023 objective: commitment to diversifying Eramet's activity portfolio in the electric mobility battery supply chain.
Eramet commits to recycling electric vehicle batteries
In Europe, Eramet joined forces with Suez and BASF to create the European collaborative project ReLieVe (Recycling of Li-ion batteries for electric vehicles). Suez is collecting and dismantling used batteries from electric vehicles, and Eramet is developing the recycling process for recovering the "black mass", the black powder containing metals such as lithium as well as nickel, manganese and cobalt, and refining this black mass to produce precursor materials for electrodes, which can be used by BASF.
The first campaigns conducted in 2020 have confirmed the project's ability to achieve recovery rates of over 90%, as expected by future European regulations.
2. Actively contribute to the circular economy
Demand for metals will grow 2.5-fold by 2060, according to the OECD. Because they are infinitely recyclable, metals are particularly suited to the development of the circular economy. Eramet has long been active in optimizing the repurposing of these resources, and many flows are already recycled in the Group's plants. To move beyond this achieved performance, new targets have been set. To this end, a Circular Economy Action Group has been set up to foster the emergence of actions contributing to this goal, one of the main aims being to verify their compliance in terms of material repurposing and environmental footprint.
2023 objective: repurpose over 2 million tons of tailings and low-grade ore, as well as 10,000 tons of waste.
3. Be a benchmark in respecting and promoting human rights
In 2017, Eramet formalized an initial mapping of the risks of violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, with the support of an external consultant. A key milestone in 2020 for the Human Rights objective of the CSR Roadmap, the exercise was repeated this year, with the support of a specialized external firm with extensive experience in the extractive sector.
The deployment of the human rights approach is based on its Human Rights policy, on regular assessments in this area with regular monitoring by the CSR Committee and by the creation in 2021 of a dedicated department, the Social Impact and Human Rights Department.
2023 objective: be recognized for our application of the United Nations Guiding Principles, measured by achieving a mature level according to the UNGP Reporting Framework (Shift-Mazars).
4. Be a preferred ethical partner
Eramet is taking a variety of initiatives to meet the strictest ethical standards, including on-site actions, appointing ambassadors, internal and external training campaigns and e-learning training dedicated to the Ethics Charter.
To ensure compliance with standards, Eramet has strengthened its ethical governance since 2019. The main bodies active in this area include an Ethics and Compliance Department, 17 ethics and compliance officers, 55 ethics and compliance ambassadors and 65 sexual harassment and sexist conduct officers.
2023 objective: all of the Sales and Purchasing teams given anti-corruption training every year.
5. Be a benchmark responsible company in the Mining and Metallurgy industry
As a responsible participant in the economy, Eramet has created an organizational structure to respond to new challenges concerning the value chain, upstream in terms of its supplier relations and downstream in terms of its markets and customers.
Suppliers and customers assessed as being at-risk means third parties deemed "critical and/or sensitive" (in terms of Eramet importance or CSR risk – depending on the activity or country). The latter need to be compliant, in accordance with the results of CSR/Ethics assessments, with the Group's commitments on these subjects. If these assessments show a gap between expectations and results, the Group fosters dialog and support, and retains the right to terminate the business relationship.
2023 objective: All of the Group's suppliers and customers assessed as at-risk comply with the Eramet CSR/Ethics commitments.
