H.C. Starck's Tantalum Supply Chain Again Declared Compliant with Conflict Free Smelter Program

MUNICH, March 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

H.C. Starck, a leading manufacturer of technology metals and advanced ceramics, announced today 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." At the beginning of 2015, all of H.C. Starck's tantalum processing plants in the United States, Germany, Japan, and in Thailand were audited by independent auditors, assigned by the EICC and GeSI and were found to meet the high CFSP site requirements. 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; 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.

The raw material supply of H.C. Starck rests on two strong pillars: cooperation with established and certified mines as well as increasing recycling activities of secondary materials. "Technology metal recycling is a distinctive competence of H.C. Starck," said Meier. "It helps us to accomplish supply security and it reduces our dependency from volatile global raw material pricing."

The full version of the press release is available on the H.C. Starck website at http://www.hcstarck.com/en/html/default/ae23e4b64b4f5fd3014bc5716ecf2ec7.html.

Contact
Ulrike Reich
Director Group Communications
Tel.: +49-89-500-942-155
[email protected]

SOURCE H.C. Starck GmbH