SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPRED GROUP

Red Group was chaired by John Haines, WHO and Gerry Miles DTI, UK, with Paul White, ILZSG as rapporteur.

There were 27 in the group, 12 from industry, 10 from governmental organisations, one of which was health, 3 academics and 2 NGOs.

BENEFITS

Essential to Everyday Life

Metals are an essential part of everyday life, indeed are fundamental to civilisation. They are naturally occurring and in plentiful supply.

Unique Properties

The have unique properties and allow manufacture of a wide range of products. Substitution of metals has not generally been properly researched and in many cases is impractical or impossible.

Environmentally - metals are highly recyclable. Exploration for new deposits improves the knowledge of the local environmental map as well as the geology, and sometimes results in the discovery of new species.

Socially -their use creates wealth in particular for developing countries in terms of stable employment, generating a local economy, improving or establishing an infrastructure, developing skills amongst local populations which generally become more healthy through improved nutrition and living standards etc. It also attracts investment and generates a flow of currency. Exploration encourages access to remote areas, and today the trend towards development of large operations is replacing short term mining operations of the past resulting in longer term impact of the social benefits of such activity.

CHALLENGES

General:

Lack of trust of industry and of government came up when we discussed impact of exploration and mining but holds true to a certain extent for all metal operations.

Communication:

(i) Communication needs to be improved between governments and industry and between industry and local communities.

(ii) Problems in legal systems which prohibit effective communication need to be addressed.

(iii) Levels of expectation raised by exploration and then opening of new mines and plants need to be managed. This applies to both positive and negative expectations.

Environmental and Social Impact Assessment - area which seeks to be addressed.

Responsibilities regarding exploration need to be negotiated in advance.

All parties should expect an adequate and transparent environmental and social assessments of the impact of the mine. Establishment of standards and criteria acceptable to all stake holders should be implemented.

Industry Challenges related particularly to mining

Impact on Social Structure

Disruption to local communities the local environment and cultures needs to be taken into account by mining companies in advance of mine construction.

Mining companies need to act responsibly to ensure the rehabilitation of old and current mines is carried out correctly.

Mining companies should take account of the fact that many of the benefits associated with the construction of a mine will only last for the life time of that mine.

Waste

The volume of waste generated and the impact of the surroundings should be properly assessed and controlling steps taken. .

BAT and Practices

Adoption of best available technology and practices taking into account the nature and circumstances of a site and the cost involved should be undertaken.

Every effort should be made to protect occupational health and safety.

Long Term Care

Long term care and treatment issues need to be correctly dealt with e.g. acid mine drainage.

Government Challenges in relation to mining:

Applying the SD concept to all sectoral activity within a region when taking decisions on new mining projects.

Better co-ordination between development assistance and the exploration and exploitation of resources should be undertaken.

Challenges for Metal Production and Use Generally

Metal Exposure

There needs to be a better understanding by society of issues related to metal exposure.

Derivation of Regulation

Present regulations are based on organic substances rather than inorganic. This issue needs to be addressed.

Regulations should be structured to allow increased recycling of metals and improvements of reclamation and collection technologies encouraged.

Legislation should be based on an open, transparent and scientific process in which all parties are involved.

Risk Management

Capacity to manage risk needs to be addressed

Classification of Waste verses raw material in relation to slags and residues is a major challenge.

More Recycling

There is a challenge to increase the amount of metal being recovered through recycling including improved reclamation technology

Pollution Prevention and Control

Need for pollution prevention and control

High Energy and Transportation Costs are a challenge associated with almost all parts of the metal production chain. This leads to production of greenhouse gases which need to be addressed.

Educated Consumers

Increased investor and consumer demand for responsibly produced and managed products. There is an opportunity here for companies who realise this but it is a distinct threat to those who do not.

More need to be done to improve public perception.

Also more effort to ensure that difficulties in distinguishing between responsibly and irresponsibly produced metals are resolved.

R&D and E&T

Continuous need for R&D, education, training, improvement of production techniques.

Way Forward to Address Challenges

• Firstly for exploration and mining the key to successful initiation of a project and development through to a successful long term operation is to establish a consultative process with all the stakeholders. Doing this in partnership with Government is the best way forward. Helping to fund and resource the consultative process is vital. Some companies already do this others need to follow.



• There needs to be a better flow of information across all the different industry sectors in the chain from mining through to use of product. This should cover issues such as best practices in not only use of technology but in social and health programmes amongst the workforce and their dependants, pollution control, product stewardship etc. Industry is already doing some of this but much more needs to be done.



• Industry needs to be more open in providing data to third parties. It needs to be seen to be honest.



• Governments through the Study Groups should push for a more objective and scientific rationale towards regulation of metals. They should also evaluate the impediments to appropriate risk management of metals.

• Need to revisit national and international regulation regarding :

  (i) the classification of secondary raw materials as waste, and

  (ii) to ensure that "innocent" products are not inadvertently caught by legislation e.g. legislation to prevent exposure to nickel on jewellery threatens the use of stainless steel surgical instruments!

• The Study Groups should jointly, taking into the account the work already done in other fora a such as UNEP, ILO, WHO, develop international guidelines on environmental and social issues for all stages of metal processing from production through to application. All stakeholders should be involved in this important work. [It was considered UNEP guidelines were inadequate and geared mainly towards mining in developing countries with anything they had relating to primary metal production and downstream processing out of date.]
• Study Groups should co-ordinate and develop sustainability policies including KPls for their respective metals but need to involve NGOs and other appropriate government departments to be credible.

G.I.Miles Co-Chair 1 December 1999