H.C. Starck says that its tantalum supply chain has been again declared free of “conflict minerals” following an independent audit.
The audit was conducted by a third party auditor assigned by the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) and Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) as part of the Conflict Free Smelter Program (CFSP).
‘The procurement and processing of raw materials from conflict-free sources is a core component of our raw material strategy.’, said Andreas Meier,president and CEO of H.C. Starck. ‘We are proud of the re-certification because it proves the success of our sustainability efforts in procuring raw materials.’
Conflict-free sources
To be declared conflict-free, H.C. Starck had to prove that it has documented and integrated a conflict minerals policy into its business operations to avoid the use of ores and metals that finance or benefit armed groups and deploys a system for tracing finished goods back to its mine of origin, and documents that all of its purchased and processed materials are from conflict-free sources.
H. C. Starck is also a member of the ITRI Tin Supply Chain Initiative (iTSCi), which has developed a due diligence system for a transparent raw material supply chain in conflict regions and monitors the implementation of the system in their member companies.