CERA 4in1 and ICL Iberia announce breakthrough in cross-recognition of sustainability certification
Published by Jessica Casey,
Editor
Global Mining Review,
The CERA 4in1 initiative and ICL Iberia – with the support of CONFEDEM – have announced a breakthrough in the cross-recognition of raw materials sustainability certification. The announcement follows pilot project results at ICL Iberia’s Súria & Sallent potash mine and its Súria processing plant near Barcelona, Spain. It is a development that will provide smaller domestic producers with a clear route to meeting the sustainability requirements of international markets.
Since 2020, the CERA 4in1 initiative has been working with a range of pilot projects to actualise its mission to standardise the evaluation of sustainability for every raw material, in every country, under a single scheme. Within this mission, a framework has been developed to recognise sustainability schemes that are already been in place at operational sites.
To-date, sustainability at ICL Iberia’s Súria & Sallent mine and processing plant – which produces 4 million tpy of potash ore– have been evaluated using the UNE 22470/22480 Standard, Spain’s national technical standard, which is not known in a broader international context, but has now been recognised through the CERA 4in1 framework. Súria & Sallent were selected as one of the CERA 4in1 pilot projects to test the ‘CERA 4in1 Performance Standard’ which evaluates the responsible performance of mine activity and subsequent processes.
As part of the recertification process of Súria & Sallent under the UNE 22470/22480 standard, the UNE Standard requirements were evaluated and successfully transferred to meet the majority of the performance criteria within CERA 4in1’s internationally recognised standard.
Dr Andreas Hucke, Project Director, CERA 4in1, said: “From the outset, CERA 4in1 set out to harmonise the way the raw materials value chain ensures the sustainability of its processes, products and linkages – a constant headache for the industry. CERA 4in1 has made a major step in cross recognition, opening the door for other individual standards to receive international accreditation.”
Carles Aleman, President of ICL Iberia, added: “Reaching a sustainable mining has been once of ICL Iberia's top priorities in recent years. We are certain that working with the Cera 4in1 Standard will not only help us meet our sustainability goals, but also lead the entire industry toward a more sustainable future.”
The CERA 4in1 performance standard criteria was first published as a working model in April 2019, before being presented and initially discussed during the CERA 4in1 stakeholder workshop at the EIT Raw Materials Summit in Berlin in May 2019. Following this audit, the Súria & Sallent mine and processing plant will now aim to achieve full CERA 4in1 certification as soon as practicable.
Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/environment-sustainability/12052021/cera-4in1-and-icl-iberia-announce-breakthrough-in-cross-recognition-of-sustainability-certification/
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