Lower-carbon and second-life zinc solutions with Nyrstar Europe

By reducing the GHG emissions in our operations and supply chain, we can offer our customers lower-carbon metals. Supported by a Life Cycle Assessment of Nyrstar European special high‑grade zinc (SHGZ), we are progressing efforts to lower the carbon footprint of the zinc produced at our Nyrstar operations in Europe. This includes major smelting and treatment plants in Belgium, France and the Netherlands.

This is underpinned by a range of efforts, such as:

1. energy efficiency improvements, for example, recovering excess heat generated during zinc production and upgrading the boilers;
2. an upgraded logistics network – including the use of rail from the Port of Antwerp to Nyrstar sites and increasing the use of barges;
3. onsite renewable electricity generation and green electricity purchasing; and
4. water recycling measures and biological treatment facilities.
   
   

We are also investing in solutions to increase the portion of recycled metals within select products, thereby supporting circular economy efforts.

As a result, we are now able to offer three differentiated products to our customers:

1. Nyrstar zinc: Nyrstar’s production process includes both primary feedstock zinc concentrates originating from mines, and ‘secondary zinc’ from recycled and recovered sources
2. Low-carbon zinc: Nyrstar’s zinc production from primary sources has one of the lowest GWP (global warming potential, tCO2e/tSHGZ) values on the market at almost four times lower than the industry average.
3. Second-life zinc: Through the use of secondary zinc, captured during the process of recycling galvanised steel or recovered from other metal by-products that contain significant concentrations of zinc, valuable natural resources are conserved and the environmental footprint associated with mining activities and levels of waste are reduced.

To further assist our customers, Trafigura also provides high-quality nature-based carbon offsets to compensate for residual emissions.