Product stewardship engagement

Overview

We believe that being a recognised leader and performer in product stewardship will enhance our reputation and thus lead to better customer relationships, sustainable markets and product premiums.  It also makes an important contribution to our commitment to sustainable development by ensuring sustainable products and sustainable markets.

To that end, our product stewardship strategy emphasises the importance of actively engaging with customers, regulatory authorities, policy makers and the public across all levels of our businesses. We report publicly on the progress of our product stewardship programmes via mediums such as this website. 

How we engage with others

Part of our strategy is to engage with governmental and non governmental groups to influence changing regulations. For instance, we teamed up with Owens Corning to share ideas and best practice on climate change, life cycle assessment and stakeholder engagement. The basis of our engagement is always best practice science. 

During the course of 2006, several new product stewardship programmes were initiated in addition to well established programmes at Rio Tinto Minerals and Kennecott Utah Copper.

In addition, a uranium stewardship programme was initiated with participation by both ERA in Australia and Rössing Uranium in Namibia. Meanwhile our Diamonds business began a diamond stewardship programme and helped to establish the Council for Responsible Jewellery Practices.

Our results

Engaging with customers

Our product stewardship programmes help us to identify and manage the environmental and health needs of consumers of metal and mineral products, and this allows us to gain insight into use of our products and can lead to stronger customer client relationships.

Seventy six per cent of our businesses had an active product stewardship programme underway in 2006 that included the needs of customers in relation to the use of purchased products. This was made up of 38 per cent of businesses with an informal programme, and 38 per cent with a formal programme.  

Engaging with suppliers

Product stewardship programmes often include systems that identify and manage supplier activities regarding their own health and environmental issues.  We can assess these activities by seeing how suppliers obtain materials, use their equipment and provide services.  This may involve the collection of hazard, risk and lifecycle data on the products, materials and services supplied to us.

Where a business has formally implemented a product stewardship programme to identify and influence potential environmental, health and safety impacts from upstream suppliers, all our businesses reported that the coverage of the formal programme included health, safety and environmental supplier performance.