Our approach

Product stewardship

Product stewardship is about understanding the health and environmental impacts of our products across their life cycles; threats and opportunities in the marketplace; and the importance of engagement with key stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, regulators and communities.

The effective stewardship of products across the value chain focuses on the safe and environmentally responsible production, use, recycling and disposal of our metals and minerals. We aim to go beyond existing regulations, and help to formulate best stewardship practice based on sound science.

The elements of our product stewardship strategy focus on:

integrating product stewardship into business decision making;
securing market access and a competitive advantage;
communicating product safety, health and environmental data; and
engaging with others to create opportunities and enhance reputation.

As part of our product stewardship strategy, life cycle assessments are developed for our key products in line with international standards. In some cases we participate in industry level life cycle inventories, such as the aluminium life cycle inventory developed by the International Aluminium Association. We also conduct our own product specific life cycle assessments to reflect the material flows, operating conditions and downstream impacts of our operations. By understanding these risks, we can manage them effectively.

Our customers are increasingly requesting Rio Tinto specific life cycle information. Such information gives our businesses, customers and consumers information on the environmental impacts and risks associated with a product. By demonstrating that we know our products in this way, we encourage our customers to conduct similar activities.

The nature and scope of lifecycle assessments depends on business and customer requirements. They may be undertaken as a cradle to gate assessment, extended to the customer's gate to incorporate product transport or they may be partial assessments that focuses on specific impacts, such as greenhouse gas emissions.

Rio Tinto specific life cycle assessments

Product group	Cradle to customer gate	Cradle to gate	Partial
Aluminium	-	Aluminium	-
Copper	-	Copper cathode, Silver, Gold, Sulfuric acid, Molybdenum oxide	Vermiculite
Diamonds & Minerals	-	Diamonds, Zirsill, Ilmenite, RTCS, Steel Powder, Iron Powder, Sorelflux, Sorelmetal, Sorelsteel, Sorelslag, UGS, Borates	-
Energy	Uranium oxide	-	Coal
Iron Ore	Pig Iron, Retread Tyres, Iron Ore Fines, Iron Ore Lump	Salt	Iron Ore Pellet - Acid, Iron Ore Pellet - Flux

Industry level life cycle assessments

Product group	Extends to customer gate	Cradle to gate	Partial
Aluminium	-	Bauxite, Alumina	-
Diamonds & Minerals	-	Rutile, Titania Slag	-
Copper	-	Copper	-
Energy	Coal	-	-

Communication on Progress

Our performance

View the online annual report

See our policies, standards and guidance