Terrafame strengthened its sustainability foundation

Terrafame’s sustainability work is guided by the company's sustainability programme, which will be updated over the course of 2024.

To provide a basis for the new programme, Terrafame reviewed the sustainability issues relevant to its operations through a materiality assessment. Material themes were identified according to the principle of double materiality* taking into account both the impacts Terrafame and its value chain have on people and the environment, as well as the economic risks and opportunities that sustainability topics, such as climate change, may pose to Terrafame's operations.

“We identified broad societal megatrends that we see shaping our business in the future. We also consulted widely with our stakeholders to include their views in the work", tells Katariina Koikkalainen, Sustainability Manager at Terrafame, describing the process.

The assessment confirmed that Terrafame has impacts on a number of sustainability issues. The top themes that emerged were:

• climate change
• circular economy
• biodiversity and pollution prevention
• Terrafame's own and value chain employees
• local communities
• responsible business practices

The evaluation reinforced that Terrafame's work is focused on the right issues.

“Reducing the carbon footprint of our products and our own operations, and supporting the electrification of transport are themes that have been at the heart of our operations from the beginning. We have also worked persistently to reduce the lost time incident frequency and develop our safety culture. In addition, we have long had a comprehensive monitoring programme to track the state of our environment – both aquatic and terrestrial – and to prevent pollution.”

Battery chemicals in a closed loop

The assessment also placed new emphasis on biodiversity and circular economy, where Terrafame sees great potential to create added value for customers, owners, and society.

In 2023, Terrafame started a pilot project with Fortum to reuse metals recovered from electric car batteries in Terrafame's battery chemicals. This is part of the process of closing the loop for battery chemicals.

Beyond the pilot project, Terrafame already uses recycled raw materials and auxiliaries such as sulphuric acid in its production process.

Terrafame also aims to efficiently use the by-products of its operations and find opportunities for recycling waste materials. For example, the plastic irrigation pipes currently used in bioleaching by Terrafame are collected at the end of use by a partner company which then recycles the plastic waste into new irrigation pipes used again at Terrafame.

“A shift away from non-renewable raw materials is necessary in the long run for society as a whole and this is reflected, for example, in the new Batteries Regulation. For Terrafame, the cooperation with Fortum is a strategic step towards this goal and further reduces the carbon footprint of our products," says Koikkalainen

* required by the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)

The article is part of Terrafame's sustainability review published in June 2024. The full review is available at www.terrafame.com > Company > Reports and publications.

Terrafame enhances low-carbon mobility by delivering responsibly produced battery chemicals to the global battery industry. One of the world’s largest production lines for chemicals used in electric vehicle batteries is located on Terrafame’s industrial site. The plant is capable of producing nickel sulphate for around 1 million EVs per year. The carbon footprint of the nickel sulphate produced by Terrafame is among the smallest in the industry.

Terrafame’s integrated, unique and energy-efficient production process from the mine to battery chemicals is located on a single industrial site. It provides customers with a transparent, traceable and truly European battery chemical supply chain.

Terrafame Ltd was founded in 2015. Its net sales in 2023 were EUR 560.9 million. Around 1,900 people work on its industrial site regularly, slightly over half of whom are employees of partner companies.