A group of European bodies and companies have joined efforts to create the first global certification scheme ensuring consistent standards of environmental, social and economic impact throughout the entire raw materials value chain, to be launched next year.
CERA (Certification of Raw Materials), conceived in 2015 by German engineering and consulting firm DMT Group, counts with the support of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), EIT RawMaterials, Volkswagen, Fairphone and research institutions from across Europe.
Companies are under pressure from consumers and investors to prove that minerals are sourced without human rights abuses but tracking raw materials throughout their journey is challenging.
There currently are at least 40 different certification methods for the mining industry alone and the number increases exponentially when considering the entire value chain. Some are specific to a geographic region, process or humanitarian concern, while others tackle a single mineral.
An additional barrier for the current certifications to work, is that most of them are complex, expensive and inconsistent, says Andreas Hucke, CERA Project Director, Head of Raw Materials Sustainability at DMT.
For the rest of this article: https://www.mining.com/europe-led-global-certification-scheme-for-raw-materials-expected-in-2020/