Circular economy and resource usage

We produce high-quality metals, which are mainly sold to industrial customers in Europe. Material stewardship is important to Boliden. Care and consideration for people, society and the environment are themes throughout Boliden’s entire value chain – from exploration to customer delivery. Our recycling of materials, e-waste and lead-acid batteries are also an important contribution to the circular economy.

Amounts of mined rock and milled ore increased slightly in 2022, as well as usage of smelting materials, compared to last year. Other materials specified in the table include the fuels, explosives and chemicals used in production processes.

The total smelting material feed includes concentrates both from Boliden’s own mines and from external mines, purchased secondary materials, and secondary materials sent from one smelter to another. Some of the concentrates produced in Boliden’s mines are sold to external parties.

Materials are mostly weighed in connection with loading and/or charging (ore, concentrates and most smelting materials). The mined rock figure is based on calculations (waste rock and ore). A small proportion of the input materials is calculated from input and stock.

1) Corrected calculations.

2) Such as oil, gas and coal.

We extract and recycle metals from by-products and residues sourced from our own operations and from suppliers. The recycling input rate (RIR) shows the proportion of secondary materials in the total input to Boliden Smelters. Recycled materials include secondary materials from external sources and secondary materials sent from one plant to another within the Group. By-products and non-product outputs recirculated internally at the sites, and slag sent from smelters to mines, are not included in these figures.

As a sustainability leader in the metals and mining sector, we clearly have a role to play in meeting the societal need for metals being produced as sustainably as possible.

We have created value from waste for many years. For example, being one of Europe’s largest recyclers of used lead-acid batteries, benefiting from decades-long resource-efficient industrial synergies, and continuously finding new methods of creating value from our own waste materials.

We play a crucial role in enabling the recycling and reuse of society’s waste metals. Several of Boliden’s smelters are specially equipped to process complex waste metals into “pure metals” that can then be used to create new components and products.

As metals can be recycled endlessly without any deterioration in their quality, it is important that electronic materials and scrap, such as telephone cables, copper roofs and copper pipes from the demolition or construction of buildings and infrastructure are re-utilized to as high a degree as possible.

Boliden’s Rönnskär smelter in northern Sweden is one of the largest recyclers of scrapped electronic equipment in the world. The smelter annually recycles around 95,000 metric tons of waste material from electrical equipment, including circuit boards from computers and mobile phones. The waste material is sourced primarily from within Europe.

Rönnskär has also processed waste steel mill dust since the 1980s to annually produce around 33,000 metric tons of zinc clinker, which accounts for 10 –15% of Rönnskär’s total production. In total, the smelter produces some 230,000 metric tons of copper, 500 metric tons of silver and 14 metric tons of gold every year.

Boliden’s Bergsöe smelter in southern Sweden has been recycling used lead-acid car batteries since 1942, and currently recovers lead from four million batteries each year. The recycled lead is mainly sold to European battery manufacturers where it is used to produce both industrial and automotive batteries. Boliden Bergsöe, which recycles about 70,000 metric tons of lead acid batteries and about 5,000 metric tons of other lead scrap per year, is the only secondary lead smelter in the Nordic region.

Our separation plant at Bergsöe also recycles plastic battery casing that is sold to industrial customers. The plant avoids annual emissions of around 10,000 metric tons CO₂ compared to combusting the plastic in the recycling process.

Around 20–25% of Boliden’s Odda smelter’s total zinc production is produced from secondary sources.

Boliden Odda and Kokkola recycle Waelz Oxide feed, which is a residual material from the scrap steel recycling industry, to produce 15,000 to 20,000 metric tons of zinc each year. Waelz Oxide can have serious negative impacts on the environment if not properly processed.

We have developed processes to extract as much value as possible from the material streams at our mines and smelters. Properly processed waste can be turned into valuable products. Some of the process residues generated are sent to other Boliden sites for metals recovery or final disposal. What is considered waste for one operation can often be a raw material for another. When appropriately managed, the trade in waste and by-products can benefit society by increasing overall resource efficiency and circularity.

Our Smelters are working to increase the “productification” of waste fractions that are currently disposed. Waste management has been chosen as one of the Smelters Business Area strategic focus areas with the mission: To “productify” when technically and economically feasible and to ensure ­sustainable solutions for waste management and disposal. There are several projects in progress with the objective to increase recovery and reduce the amount of disposed waste through productification. For example, at our Rönnskär smelter the granulated copper slag is sold as a by-product for the construction of local roads and similar activities.

The secondary raw materials for Boliden smelters, such as electronic scrap and waste batteries, contain plastics. The plastics serve as an energy source in metal production and can increase CO₂ emissions. Some of the excess heat from the process is used for local district heating.