Lumet is building a database of standards relevant to mining, minerals, metals and materials.
Voluntary sustainability standards include business-led initiatives, multistakeholder initiatives and government efforts. Work package WP1 provides a mapping of voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) relevant to mining, minerals, metals and materials.
Foundational mechanisms include government partnership programs, multilateral agency efforts like those of the United Nations, and international organisations that support sustainable development. Many Foundational Mechanisms provide principles, guidance, frameworks or best practices applicable to mining, mineral processing and materials production.
ISO standards refers to international consensus standards developed by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and other international standards organisations, like European CEN / CENELEC.
Guidance in assessing standards
When reviewing a standard consider things like:
- Ownership and management of the initiative: business, multistakeholder, government
- Scope of applicability: corporate, facility, product
- Coverage of mineral, metal or materials – considering that many mining standards are material agnostic
- Scope of life cycle: upstream (mining), midstream (smelters and refineries), downstream (markets), end-of-life (recycling)
Also consider the type of criteria that a standard imposes. Many of the voluntary sustainability standards require management procedures and processes, providing a management system standard along the lines of ISO 9000 or ISO 14001.
Other standards impose performance outcomes that demand the demonstration of environmental or social change, for example, reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, a quantified change in company procurement, or the demonstration of social development, like education or equity.