Groupe Environmental Performance Analysis
This section offers an evaluation of Umicore’s environmental performance for 2007 in comparison with 2006. The analysis focuses on the material environmental aspects, most of which form the basis of the Group environmental objectives for the period 2006-2010. Only data from consolidated sites where Umicore has operational control are included in this report.
Umicore’s zinc alloys business was transferred to Nyrstar in September 2007. Because the environmental performance data is only generated in October, the 2007 environmental performance of the zinc alloys activities in Auby (France), Le Vigéant (France) and Balen and Overpelt (Belgium) are no longer available to Umicore. These sites, due to the nature of their activities, contributed significantly to the Group’s overall environmental impact. Since they are no longer part of Umicore, the relative environmental impact of Umicore’s remaining activities has changed considerably. The activities of the Precious Metal Refining and Zinc Chemicals business units now show a higher relative contribution. In order to present a set of comparable data, the 2006 environmental performance was recalculated excluding the zinc smelting activities. Where relevant, the 2006 figures, including the zinc alloys activities, are reported in the text.
Within the scope of Umicore’s current reporting framework, it was necessary for the majority of the sites to report environmental performance at the end of the third quarter together with a forecast for the fourth quarter while the four sites with the largest environmental impact (in 2007: Hoboken, Changsha, Hanau, Olen) reported their full-year figures.
Umicore uses a central environmental database for all the sites to report their data, ensuring a consistent interpretation of the definitions of the key indicators. In 2007, some of the definitions were refined (nitrous oxide) or added (volatile organic compounds, ozone depleting substances, biodiversity). Due to these changes and improved data collection at site level, some performance data for previous years were adjusted in order to better reflect current knowledge.