04 Resources are precious to us
According to UNICEF, 3.3 times the earth would be needed to keep up with consumption levels of the OECD and EU countries. This rate of resource use is clearly unsustainable. Moreover, the extraction, processing, and disposal of natural resources can have significant environmental impacts.
Our business activities rely on precious resources. We live up to our responsibility by improving our processes and products so that they require fewer and fewer resources and by adopting circular approaches wherever possible. This includes responsible waste management and disposal, and an environmentally conscious use of resources. Our commitment to conserving resources is reinforced by our recycling efforts, which help to keep precious metals within the cycle of use.
Targets and KPIs
18%
SHARE OF RECYCLED
gold in our plants
in 2024
18% of the gold volume processed in our plants came from secondary material. We have established the new target of raising absolute intake volumes of secondary gold compared to the base year 2024. In future reporting, we will express the target achievement as a percentage value compared against the base year.5
Up to
99%
6 lower carbon footprint of recycled vs. primary precious metals
Many of our precious metals products are returned to us at the end of their lifetime. By making new products out of recycled fine metal, we are continuously keeping recovered precious metals in the loop.
Circular economy
We are committed to adopting a circular approach whenever possible.
We consistently improve and expand our processes for recovering precious metals and keeping them in the loop. This includes implementing responsible waste management and disposal practices, along with promoting the environmentally conscious and efficient use of resources.
Recycling precious metals
The recycling of precious metals requires a high level of technological expertise, including the ability to work with materials with different compositions to ensure an efficient recovery of precious metals without causing environmental harm.
As part of our commitment to sustainable practices, we continue to promote a circular approach among our clients. We are constantly improving our production processes to maximize the retention of precious metals content. In cases where we are unable to process certain materials, we send them to certified third parties for recovery, thus ensuring that no precious metals are wasted.
Share of secondary precious metals
Waste and other materials
At Argor-Heraeus, we acknowledge the importance of responsible waste management. Once materials have served their purpose, we adhere to strict standards and procedures for their disposal. Our waste management practices comply with rigorous legal requirements, ensuring safe and responsible waste disposal.
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We have implemented strict procedures to ensure the responsible disposal of various categories of waste. The reduction of waste by 7% achieved in 2024 shows that these efforts pay off.
We generate two main types of waste: hazardous waste and non-hazardous waste. Our hazardous waste comprises various materials, including exhausted chemical solutions, wastewater, and oils. It therefore requires special disposal procedures. Our non-hazardous waste comes primarily from day-to-day operations and the packaging materials that accompany our goods, and includes materials such as PET, wood, ferrous waste, and general waste.
In Switzerland, we follow the regulations of the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC). In Hong Kong, our disposal processes follow the guidelines set by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD). These regulatory bodies play a critical role in ensuring that hazardous waste is handled and disposed of safely and in accordance with the highest environmental standards.
Waste (tons), Mendrisio, Switzerland
and Hong Kong SAR, Cina
Water
Water plays a central role in our production: For example, it is needed in the chemical and electrolytic reactions during precious metals refining and is indispensable for cooling the machinery. Accordingly, we have established processes to comply with all applicable laws and regulations for managing and handling water and wastewater.
Where we stand
In 2024, we conducted a detailed analysis of the water use at our site in Mendrisio, which accounts for the largest share of our water withdrawal. By the end of 2026, we will standardize the reporting approach for global operations to close identified gaps.
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Water withdrawal is highly dependent on the quantities and quality of the metal that we process. At the same time, we always try to work on optimizing the quantities of water that we use in our production activity. In 2023, we started to work on establishing clear and measurable targets to reduce water use. As a pilot project, we had set the target of reducing water withdrawal at our Mendrisio site by 10% in 2024 compared to 2023.
In 2024, we reduced our overall water withdrawal by 14% compared to the previous year. Thanks to strengthened monitoring and attention, our Mendrisio site registered a decrease of 24% in water withdrawal. Water withdrawal at our Hong Kong site increased by 8%, after two years of reduction. This was mostly due to the increased throughput of refining material.
Water withdrawal
(m3)
Water usage in our value chain
The largest share of our water footprint comes from our upstream value chain. Hence, qualitative assessments of our mining partners’ water management systems, aligned with the strict LBMA standards, have long since been part of all our regular on-site assessments. In 2024 we continued to gather quantitative data on water usage from our mining partners.
As we gain more transparency, we will assess our mining partners regarding water and engage with them on reducing their impacts.
Biodiversity
Healthy, well-functioning ecosystems are the foundation of all life on our planet. Both our own operations and our upstream value chain can impact the surrounding environment and its biodiversity. This is why, for us, responsible sourcing and use of precious metals also means paying close attention to these potential impacts and minimizing them where possible.
Where we stand
In 2024, we conducted a biodiversity impact assessment for all our production and recycling sites. We used the ENCORE7 tool to support the analysis, which helped us to identify the drivers of biodiversity loss that are most relevant to us. In 2024, we furthermore conducted a proximity analysis to identify biodiversity-sensitive areas near our sites. It confirmed that none of our sites are located in a protected area. However, our sites in Mendrisio, Hong Kong, and Pforzheim, are within a five-kilometer radius of such areas.
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In accordance with the results of our analysis, our biodiversity approach for our own operations prioritizes GHG emissions, waste, and water use. As biodiversity is closely connected to other environmental matters, there is an overlap with already existing sustainability strategies, targets, and measures described in the other chapters of this factbook. Additionally, we work on site-specific measures described in this chapter, targeting relevant areas of biodiversity at each location as necessary.
For our upstream value chain, the biodiversity impact analysis is still ongoing. However, we have already taken actions and focus on further gaining transparency on mine-specific sustainability information.
There are also many examples showing that the precious metals mining industry is aware of its impacts and is taking measures to address and reduce them. We encourage our mining partners in their ongoing efforts to steadily become more sustainable and to promote the global ambitions of halting and reversing biodiversity loss.
Projects and initiatives
In 2024, our Mendrisio site planned to regenerate 30% of its degraded area to land use of a higher biodiversity value by 2030. Measures will include planting native species both on and off site. Ultimately, the site intends to restore an area equivalent to 100% of its degraded area. First on-site measures already took place in early 2025.
The initiative is a response to the Global Biodiversity Framework’s target and follows a scientific approach. In the first step, we analyzed the Mean Species Abundance (MSA) land use score of the site by relating it to undisturbed ecosystems. The planned measures aim to improve this score to contribute to enhancing biodiversity. Using MSA analysis is part of the site’s experiments with different ways of measuring and improving biodiversity impacts as a pilot for further engagement with stakeholders in the future.
In 2024, Argor-Heraeus partnered with Elmery—a company specializing in recovery solutions for precious metals—to implement an innovative and sustainable solution for recovering even higher quantities of platinum from refining solutions. Leveraging Elmery’s patented technology, the project aimed to achieve maximum recovery rates while reducing both environmental impact and operational costs. The new system enables an even more efficient and reliable recovery of platinum–minimizing the use of chemicals and contributing to a lower CO₂ footprint as well.
The installation at our site in Mendrisio enhanced also workplace safety.
In 2022, we installed new equipment at our Mendrisio plant to transform wastewater from our processes into sodium nitrate by evaporation. In 2023, we were able to double our capacity and can now produce up to 450 tons of sodium nitrate per year. This transformation not only significantly reduces the amount of waste we produce, it also makes the sodium nitrate reusable as a valuable raw material for the cement and glass industries. Our stated goal was to reduce the nitrate content in wastewater by 85% by the end of 2024 compared to 2019. Because of some technical issues, at the end of 2024 we are at a level of 50%, but we will pursue our measures to ensure further reductions.
Precious-metals-related organizations such as LBMA, LPPM, and RMI established strict standards a long time ago and are continuously improving them. We take all possible steps to meet or surpass these standards when we source precious metals. For instance, we conduct on-site assessments on our complete mine portfolio through either our own staff or external companies.
Our initiative includes collecting mine-specific data on various sustainability-relevant topics and developing a model to compare this data. Initially, we are focusing on achieving transparency in data and targets related to GHG emissions, water, and biodiversity. These efforts are aligned with our goal to ensure that 100% of our mining partners have sustainability-related targets and measures in place and track their progress and target achievement.
In this context, with the support of Innosuisse (the Swiss Innovation Agency) we have also initiated a joint project with the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) to monitor and identify potential actions to reduce the impact of mining activities. The project aims to implement data-driven methods for assessing and monitoring gold mines. The collaboration brings a new synergy of technology and expertise to tackle the persistent challenge of measuring and monitoring the impacts of gold mines, among other parameters. The project is ongoing and will likely be completed by 2026.
05 People are precious to us
People are at the heart of everything. We are convinced that the human element is what creates impact, drives innovation, and fosters strong partnerships. These are essential for growth and sustainable transformation.
We prioritize the well-being and interests of the people in our company, in nearby communities, and along our value chain. This especially includes ensuring respect for human rights, fair working conditions, a safe and healthy work environment, living wages, and diverse and inclusive workplaces.