Umicore honored for sustainability aspects

Belgium-based Umicore has been ranked seventh in a 2019 list of the world’s 100 most sustainable companies. The list is compiled and published by Toronto-based Corporate Knights, a research organization focused on sustainable performance rankings.

Umicore says it is ranked number 1 globally among companies that “produce or transform metals,” and that it is the only company in that sector to make the top 10 of the 2019 list.

“I am delighted that Umicore is once more recognized as one of the most sustainable corporations in the world,” states Marc Grynberg, CEO of Umicore. “Sustainability is integral to our strategy and business model and we consistently demonstrate our commitment to clean mobility and recycling both through cutting edge technology innovation and significant investments.”

It is the sixth time Umicore has been listed and the fifth time it has made the top 10.

The 15th edition of the Global 100 was created after an analysis of 7,500 corporations. The ranking includes companies from 21 countries from many sectors of the economy.

The ranking was based on what Umicore calls “a clean revenue metric” that measures the percentage of a company’s revenue earned from products or services deemed to have environmental or social benefits.

On the recycling front, Umicore’s smelter in Hoboken, Belgium, consumes many different types of scrap materials. The plant was among those featured in a January 2019 Recycling Today article that spotlights the prominence of metals recycling in the Flanders region of Belgium.

Umicore describes itself as a global materials technology and recycling group. with a “focus on clean mobility materials and recycling, with the overriding goal of sustainable value creation based on an ambition to develop, produce and recycle materials in a way that fulfils its mission: materials for a better life.” The company generated sales of €6.4 billion ($7.3 billion) in the first half of 2018 and employs 9,800 people.