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RRRM Updates: February 2025

RRRM Updates: February 2025
The launch of our Reports in May and June 2024 was very successful and generated considerable interest. As you will recall, the Roundtable completed its Working Groups, published the series of three background reports, a Summary Report, Risk Profile and Recommendations Reports and the emphasis has moved towards your support to review and act on the recommendations. We continue to coordinate and promote the outcomes and responsible metals recycling and we wanted to provide an update on these activities.

Report exposure
In addition to the steering and working groups which received pre-publication versions of the reports, the series of reports has now been downloaded hundreds of times and continues to draw attention and regular downloads. Interested parties include government departments (US State department, for example), academics and researchers, banks and financial analysts, refiners, smelters and metals producers, shipping companies, NGO’s, sustainability standard setters and others.

Implementation updates
Steering Group members and the Secretariat are collaborating on the following initiatives which are relevant to the Roundtable recommendations:

The Copper Mark and The International Copper Association (ICA)
The Copper Mark and ICA are collaborating to develop a new tool for risk assessment of materials for recycling. The tool is designed to be used by refiners, recyclers and downstream members as part of their due diligence process. It builds directly on the findings of the Roundtable and includes a range of risk factors specific to material for recycling enabling a more accurate understanding of risk to be developed and acted on. Boliden and Wieland, other Steering Group members have also contributed to its development.  The tool is currently being reviewed by the Copper Mark participants, and ICA members to gather feedback.

Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI)
RMI recently enhanced the ESG facility level performance standard that includes recyclers as well as the ESG supply chain due diligence module (RMAP+ DAP+) for any RMAP Annex II based standard including in relation to materials for recycling and recycling.

CARES
CARES is in the process of developing version 10 of its Sustainable Constructional Steels Certification scheme and is building the findings into revised due diligence criteria and expanded guidance. The guidance enables secondary and primary steelmakers to better identify risks from direct and indirect steel scrap inputs and outlines a series of actions procurement and sustainability teams can take to manage and reduce them.

London Metal Exchange (LME)
The LME has been using learning from the RRRM in conversations with listed brands and other stakeholders to support an understanding of the state of “responsible recycling”. It has also added ISO 14021 as a proof point for recycled content disclosures on LMEpassport

ResponsibleSteel (RS)
RS is planning to consider the key recommendations within its International Production Standard review process with a view to enhance the raw material inputs criteria. In particular, it is looking to provide further guidance on the progress level requirements for raw materials for recycling. 

South African Research Chair Community of Practice: Waste to Value
The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, alongside a Roundtable Steering Group member and contributor, the Sustainable Recycling Industries team in South Africa (SRI:SA), published the Draft National Policy for the Management of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment. SRI: SA also completed a costing framework to guide the financial implications of implementing the Policy as well as a National Norms and Standards for the Management of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment to ensure the uniform national approach to define administrative, operational, and technical minimum requirements based on defined activities of operators in the South African Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Management Chain.

World Resources Forum (WRF)
Sonia Valdivia of WRF chaired the committee responsible for the development of 'ISO 59014:2024 Environmental management and circular economy — Sustainability and traceability of the recovery of secondary materials — Principles, requirements and guidance', published in October 2024. The standard provides principles, requirements and guidance for organizations in fostering the sustainability and traceability of activities and processes for the recovery of secondary materials. It also specifies requirements and provides guidance for organizations that engage with individuals involved in subsistence activities (including post-consumer waste/metals collection and initial processing) as part of the organization’s activities and processes for the recovery of secondary materials, with the aim of ensuring safe and healthy working conditions and the continual improvement of the well-being, livelihoods and professional practices of those individuals.

Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) 
The RRRM Secretariat are participating in ASI’s CARE project funded through the ISEAL Innovations Fund, thanks to donations from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO and UK International Development from the UK government. The multi-stakeholder project seeks to enhance circularity by formalizing the integration of informal waste pickers into formal Aluminium recycling markets, aligning with global responsible recycling principles and standards. The project builds on the RRRM findings that showed higher risks associated with distributed post-consumer collection and recycling routes. The team will look at implications for due diligence and the barriers of it and potential solutions from supporting the formalisation of waste pickers in Columbia.

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