Umicore
 

Environment

We care for the environment

The Environment Charter, published in 1993, expresses Umicore's commitment to responsible, proactive and transparent management of environmental issues and concerns. As for Umicore as a whole, Umicore Precious Metals Refining (UPMR) regards caring for the environment as a strategic opportunity.

UPMR has a long-standing tradition of caring for the environment:

  • when certifying the environmental care system to ISO14001:2004, the certification body drew attention to the high level of care as well as the very well implemented management system.
  • since 1995 over € 100 million have been invested in continuous improvement of the plant's environmental performance.
  • every member of our staff has made environmental care part of his/her attitude at work, in line with his/her responsibilities e.g. awareness raising on selective waste collection. 

Legal compliance

The refining facility of Umicore Precious Metals Refining complies with the European and even stricter Flemish legal environmental requirements. Installations and procedures are continuously being adapted to new legislation. All activities and facilities are duly licensed.

Air

Process gases and hygienic gases are cleaned using BAT (Best Available Techniques) such as bag house filters, electrofilters and scrubbers. Emissions of dust, metals, gases and dioxins are very low and show a decreasing trend, thanks to everlasting efforts on improvement. Diffuse emissions from stockyards and roads are abated by intensive sprinkling, using either fixed sprinkling systems or watering carts. Ambient air is monitored continuously.

Water

Not only process water, but also cooling water, all rainwater, sprinkling water, ... is treated in an onsite BAT waste water treatment plant: acids are neutralised, metals, sulphates and fluorine are removed by physical chemistry processes. Two thirds of the water is reused internally while one third is discharged into the river, in full compliance with the standards laid now.

Element Standard (mg/l) UPMR 2002 - 2005 (mg/l)
Lead

1

0.03

Copper

3

0.13

Zinc

5

0.10

Suspended solids

35

10,48

Total nitrates and nitrites

125

46

Sulphates

3000

1600


Soil

All stockyards are provided with a concrete floor; rainwater and sprinkling water are collected and treated in the waste water treatment plant.

The historical soil contamination in the plant is being controlled and huge areas are being covered with brick rubble in order to prevent dust generation. Contaminated groundwater is drained away and treated in the waste water treatment plant.

A project to rehabilitate the adjacent residential area is ongoing.

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Waste

We try as much as possible to find useful applications for all our outputs: sulphuric acid is sold for further use, poor slags are used as a concrete filler or as dike reinforcement material. Slag applications are covered by certificates issued by the Flemish authorities.

Waste containing elements that can't be recycled any further adds up to only 4 % of the incoming material and is disposed of in duly licensed landfills. A project to decrease further the amount of waste for landfills is ongoing.

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