Umicore's Sustainability and Financial Report
Glossary
The below definitions cover Umicore's main business & technical abbreviations
umicore
Recycling Glossary:
Closed loop: For Umicore a "closed loop" involves taking back secondary materials from customers (e.g. production residues) or End-of-Life materials (e.g. used mobile phones,
automotive catalysts). The recovered metals are then fed back into the economic cycle.
Free metal yield: Surplus metal recovered within a refining and recycling process. This is a significant revenue stream of Umicore's refining and recycling processes, which is dependent
on the metal price evolution.
Hydrometallurgy: Hydrometallurgy involves the use of aqueous solutions for the recovery of metals from ores, concentrates, and recycled or residual materials. Umicore's Precious
Metals Refining and Battery Recycling Solutions activities combine the advantages of both the pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processes.
Raw materials:
Primary raw material: Material which has never before been subjected to use or processed into any form of end-use product (or part thereof) other than that required for its
manufacture. In the absence of information from the supplier on the nature of the raw materials supplied, these raw materials are considered as primary. The collected data are
expressed in terms of total tonnage of incoming material.
Secondary raw material: Material which has been used and/or processed before and can be reused or processed again into any form of end-use product (or part thereof). Includes
both pre- and post consumer materials.
Secondary pre-consumer raw material: Material resulting from the industrial processes in the value chain before that material has been processed into a product. Please note that
this includes waste materials originating from intermediate manufacturing steps in the value chain using primary raw materials as input. In all cases the material should not be suitable
for consumption in the intermediate manufacturing steps from which it originates.
Secondary post-consumer raw material: Material resulting from products ending at least one lifetime. Please note that this includes waste materials originating from intermediate
manufacturing steps in the value chain using secondary raw materials (pre- and or post- consumer raw materials) as input. This also includes material recovered from waste generated
by industrial facilities in their role as end-users of a finished product. In all cases the material should not be suitable for consumption in the intermediate manufacturing steps from
which it originates. This also includes material recovered from waste generated by industrial facilities in their role as end-users of a finished product.
Platinum-group metals (PGMs): The six platinum-group metals are ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium, and platinum.
Pyrometallurgy: Pyrometallurgical processing involves incineration and smelting in a furnace at high temperatures. Has a very high reaction rate which allows to have a quick recovery
process, and a large robustness to impurities. Lower physical footprint compared to hydrometallurgy. Umicore's Precious Metals Refining and Battery Recycling Solutions activities
combine the advantages of both the pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processes.
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