Material Stewardship for Zinc
Sabina Grund and Eric van Genderen
Abstract The metals industry is faced with global challenges linked to sustainable
development, among these finding a balance between environmental stewardship,
economic development, and social responsibility that require full participation by
the entire metal value chain. The global zinc industry has a well-established, longterm sustainability program in place providing its customers, regulators, and other
stakeholder groups with facts. For example, regular updates of the global zinc mining
and smelting life cycle assessment (LCA) provide practitioners with the most representative environmental footprint data for zinc. In addition, IZA conducts material
stocks and flows analyses to characterize national, regional, and global recycling
metrics. Furthermore, IZA’s sustainability activities are framed by the SDG Sector
Roadmap for the global zinc value chain, which outlines today’s impacts and future
impact opportunities on sustainable development as related to the United Nations’
Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). This paper provides an overview of
the global zinc industries’ achievements, goals and related actions and identifies
challenges that still lie ahead of this industry.
Keywords Zinc · Responsible sourcing · Circular economy · Circularity · UN
SDG roadmap · Sustainable development · Climate change · Recycling · Material
stewardship
Introduction
Sustainable development according to the often-cited definition by Brundtland is
“development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” [1]. Typically, the three pillars
of sustainable development are described as social, environmental, and economical.
Today, sustainability is the foundation for the leading global framework for international cooperation—the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
S. Grund (B) · E. van Genderen
International Zinc Association, Brussels, Belgium
e-mail: sgrund@zinc.org
© The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society 2020
A. Siegmund et al. (eds.), PbZn 2020: 9th International Symposium
on Lead and Zinc Processing, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37070-1_42
491
Sabina Grund and Eric van Genderen
Abstract The metals industry is faced with global challenges linked to sustainable
development, among these finding a balance between environmental stewardship,
economic development, and social responsibility that require full participation by
the entire metal value chain. The global zinc industry has a well-established, longterm sustainability program in place providing its customers, regulators, and other
stakeholder groups with facts. For example, regular updates of the global zinc mining
and smelting life cycle assessment (LCA) provide practitioners with the most representative environmental footprint data for zinc. In addition, IZA conducts material
stocks and flows analyses to characterize national, regional, and global recycling
metrics. Furthermore, IZA’s sustainability activities are framed by the SDG Sector
Roadmap for the global zinc value chain, which outlines today’s impacts and future
impact opportunities on sustainable development as related to the United Nations’
Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). This paper provides an overview of
the global zinc industries’ achievements, goals and related actions and identifies
challenges that still lie ahead of this industry.
Keywords Zinc · Responsible sourcing · Circular economy · Circularity · UN
SDG roadmap · Sustainable development · Climate change · Recycling · Material
stewardship
Introduction
Sustainable development according to the often-cited definition by Brundtland is
“development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” [1]. Typically, the three pillars
of sustainable development are described as social, environmental, and economical.
Today, sustainability is the foundation for the leading global framework for international cooperation—the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
S. Grund (B) · E. van Genderen
International Zinc Association, Brussels, Belgium
e-mail: sgrund@zinc.org
© The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society 2020
A. Siegmund et al. (eds.), PbZn 2020: 9th International Symposium
on Lead and Zinc Processing, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37070-1_42
491