ZIA completes first zircon industry ESG and Sustainability Performance Benchmarking study

February 2022

ZIA recently published its first industry-wide Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) benchmarking report. The study, which uses members’ data from 2018 – 2020, shows the industry is making progress against 18 ESG key performance indicators.

With regard to environmental indicators the study found:

• A decrease in average number of environmental reportable incidents
• Decreasing trend of greenhouse gas emissions and water intensity
• Improvement in water recycling initiatives

With regard to social indicators the study found:

• The percentage of female employees is increasing
• Zero fatalities over the three-year period
• 100% of member-producers have biodiversity plans in place

With regard to governance the study found:

• The majority of ZIA members have established policies on equal opportunities and non-discrimination, anti-corruption & anti- bribery, and human rights & modern slavery.

ZIA Executive Director, Dr Keven Harlow, said:

“The report enables ZIA and participating members to establish an ESG data collection system, assess ESG KPIs, benchmark performance against peers, and support communication to different stakeholders.

“It also allows the industry to identify areas where improvement is required, including the need to increase the use of renewable energy and work to improve overall energy efficiency.

“The report offers an independent and credible source of industry ESG data to use in response to queries from the value chain, the investment community and other stakeholders. We look forward to repeating the study again in future years.”

An ESG summary report is available to download.

Notes to editors

1. A copy of the study can be downloaded here.
2. As a non-profit organisation, ZIA works on behalf of its members to develop and promote zircon, zirconia, and derivative substances by advocating the benefits of their widespread application in today's world.
3. ZIA has a strict Code of Conduct and Antitrust policy which applies to all ZIA activities.

For further information, please contact:
Claire Caton / media@zircon-association.org