H.C. Starck receives second EICC certificate for its "conflict-free" tantalum supply chain

MUNICH, May 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- H.C. Starck announced today that its tantalum supply chain has been declared free of "conflict minerals" for a second consecutive year 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 (CFS) Validation Program.

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All of H.C. Starck's tantalum processing plants in the United States, Germany, Japan, and in Thailand were audited in the beginning of 2012 and were found to meet all CFS site requirements. To be declared conflict-free, H.C. Starck's tantalum processing plants have to maintain a documented conflict minerals policy, deploy a system for tracing finished goods back to its mine of origin and document that all of its purchased materials are from non-conflict sources.

"A conflict-free raw material supply is core part of our sustainability commitment to our customers and a key element of our obligation as responsible Corporate Citizen," said Andreas Meier, President & CEO of H.C. Starck. "For more than ten years, we have maintained stringent worldwide guidelines for purchasing raw materials only from ethical, non-conflict sources and we have integrated comprehensive sustainability criteria into our procurement process. This audit result is confirmation of our continuing commitment and consistent work in this area."

In early 2010, H.C. Starck had introduced its own Responsible Supply Chain Management System (RSCM) for the procurement of raw materials. This system ensures efficient and competitive purchasing as well as helps to avoid sourcing from conflict regions or from suppliers that do not act in line with environmental and social sustainability. "With a variety of control mechanisms, we perform thorough due diligence on all raw material offers based on current OECD and EICC guidelines before we sign any contract or accept any material," said Andreas Meier. The system fulfils all requirements of a management system standard required by ISO. The successful implementation of the system within H.C. Starck has been confirmed by the external auditor Bureau Veritas.

Read the complete press release at http://www.hcstarck.com/en/home/press/press_releases.html

SOURCE H.C. Starck