Responsible metals supply chains
Responsible metals supply chains
Metals are essential for the production of many goods and technologies and are crucial for the low-carbon transition.
Century Aluminum Vlissingen B.V. joined the IRBC Metals Agreement, a multistakeholder mechanism for implementing individual and collective due diligence; and for jointly developing long-term solutions towards tackling social and environmental risks in global metals supply chains. The aim is to improve working conditions and the environment (People and Planet) in the chains in which we operate. Jointly we can exert more influence on parties that can improve these conditions in the chains, such as (local) governments, trade unions, companies and industries.
The implementation of the Agreement will be devoted towards:
- providing companies with the necessary knowledge, instruments and other resource tools to be able to understand and/or address potential risks in their supply chains (from extraction to recycling),
- identifying and addressing potential risks linked to the secondary materials (metal scrap) supply chains, and
- encouraging relevant actors in the metals supply chains (at the national and international level) to adopt and implement the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights.
Century Aluminum Vlissingen B.V. has established a policy stating that we are committed to preventing violations of human rights, fundamental labor rights, environmental and biodiversity standards and negative impact on local communities.
Century Aluminum Vlissingen supports the six steps of the OECD Due Diligence guidelines for corporate social responsibility.
This IRBC policy has been written in English.
Century Aluminum Vlissingen B.V. expects its suppliers and their respective supply chains and other business partners to fulfill the obligations set forth in this policy. We therefore call on all our suppliers and stakeholders to support our commitment and work with us on responsible metal supply chains.
More information about this topic can be found on the website of Metaal Nederland, this website is in Dutch.
Despite the challenges, Parties to the International RBC Agreement for the Metals Sector made progress both individually and collectively on responsible metals value chains over 2022. The parties strengthened cooperation in challenging third year, more information can be found in this press release.
The urgency to realise responsible metals value chains is felt by the Parties to the Agreement, as is apparent from the annual report 2021-2022. More companies are integrating international responsible business conduct (international RBC) into their policies.