Stewardship in Practice

Inco has consistently moved forward in its responsibility and care for safely distributing our products. In 1997, our product stewardship processes and procedures became more formalized.

The growing emphasis and the need to embrace product stewardship in corporate policy, was driven in part by the requirement to comply with increasing government regulation as well as demand from customers and consumers.

More and more customers are pursuing the path of environmental sustainability and are examining the practices and policies of their suppliers. They want to do business with companies that are also interested in protecting the environment. Inco has responded and has become a leader in product stewardship in the metals business. We are firmly committed to minimizing potentially adverse impacts of the company’s operations and products on employees, customers, communities and the environment.

Packaging

Product stewardship begins with ensuring that our products are shipped as safely and efficiently as possible. That means packaging is a priority. Over the past five years, the company has developed packaging standards that promote safety such as utilizing double linings to prevent spills and ensuring that our products are appropriately labelled.

In the interests of the environment, we additionally utilize pallets made from treated wood to eliminate the international spread of pests. We have also developed reusable packaging, which is more environmentally friendly and satisfies demands from customers that products be free of wasteful packaging.

Public Education and Research

A key function of product stewardship is to ensure that we have the means to inform our customers and the public about recycling and the safe use of nickel products.

We have produced Material Safety Data Sheets, which are now available on our corporate web site, for our customers, including those operating in jurisdictions that do not require them. These documents are available in English, French, Chinese and Japanese. We also rely on feedback from our customers, to continuously improve product packaging, handling and waste reduction.

At the same time, we work in cooperation with other nickel producers through organizations such as the Nickel Development Institute (NiDI) and the Nickel Producers Environmental Research Association (NiPERA) to support research and promote public education in a variety of areas, including nickel and its uses, human health and the environment, and recycling and sustainable development.

NiDI and Product Stewardship

Inco and other nickel producers have endorsed the NiDI Product Stewardship Policy.

...the Nickel Development Institute (NiDI) will:

• Support science and research on the safe production and use of nickel;
• Encourage best practices in the safe production and use of nickel and nickel-containing products;
• Promote nickel-related hazard and risk management education;
• Promote nickel-containing products and technologies that are safe and efficient in their use of energy, resources and materials;
• Encourage product design, technologies and uses that utilize the environmental qualities of nickel;
• Work with government agencies, downstream users and other stakeholders in the development of sound legislation, regulations and product standards that protect and benefit employees, the community and the environment.

In addition, NiDI reports annually to its Board of Directors on product stewardship activities. An abbreviated version of the NiDI Product Stewardship Report for 2002 is available.

Recycling

Nickel lends itself to sustainable solutions. As is the case with other metallic elements, it can be used and re-used without degradation because it does not deteriorate or lose its intrinsic properties.

The ability to reuse nickel, particularly from rechargeable nickel-cadmium and nickel metal hydride batteries and from plating wastes, has led Inco to make recycling a major component of our stewardship efforts. Although our focus is nickel, at Inco we also recycle copper, cobalt, gold, silver and other precious metals.

“The big picture story of nickel and recycling is excellent,” says Damian D’Aguiar, Inco’s Manager of Product Stewardship. “Thirty years ago, much of the material Inco is recycling in Sudbury and Thompson would have ended up as landfill. But now recycling and ensuring our own reverted materials are recycled in an environmentally sound manner is an important part of our business. Recycling is an important step towards sustainability and guarantees that processed metals are not lost to future generations.”

Our Sudbury, Ontario and Thompson, Manitoba operations recycle approximately 30,000 tonnes of external recycled nickel-containing material annually. Meanwhile, at our Acton Refinery, just outside London, England, the company recovered about one million troy ounces of platinum-group metals (PGMs) as well as gold and silver in 2002. Approximately 67 per cent of the feedstock at Acton is from secondary sources such as electronic appliances. A major use of PGMs is in the manufacture of automobile catalysts designed to protect the environment.

Inco actively seeks out customers for intermediate material that we cannot recycle. Our Thompson operation, for instance, in 2004 will be sending waste containing copper and arsenic residue to another nickel processor, which has the distinct ability to extract and recycle these substances in an environmentally sound manner.

Our company additionally has many arrangements to recycle materials associated with packaging, including the use of reusable tote boxes for nickel powders and shipping drums.

Through product stewardship at Inco, we strive to create sustainable solutions to provide a secure future for our communities and the world around us.

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