The Life Cycle Assessment of Platinum Group Metals
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LCA THE LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF PLATINUM GROUP METALS (PGMs) Reference Year 2017 Stock photography ID: 1189910507, ©Nikada ©Nikada ID: 1189910507, photography Stock DISCLAIMER: Within secondary production, it is common in the duction of PGMs. Thus, while the results of the LCA PGM industry to treat a mixed feed of materials, study are valid as an industry average, they are not which may include automotive and industrial cata- suited for the analysis of specific secondary produc- lysts, electronic scrap, and by-product materials. tion processes, especially for comparison purposes. Consequently, it is challenging for an LCA to allocate Similarly, the LCA results for primary production are the environmental footprint of a particular process ei- averaged from inputs from mining operations which ther to individual metals or to an individual feed such vary between one another in terms of the charac- as autocatalysts. The IPA LCA study has adopted a teristics of their ores and should not be used to ana- pragmatic approach and has used a mixed feed to lyse one particular mine or participating company, or model the average footprint for the secondary pro- their production processes. 2 The Life Cycle Assessment of Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) – Update with 2017 Production Data BACKGROUND Based on input from eleven out of twelve IPA members, the study focused on the primary and In response to growing demand from stakeholders secondary production of PGMs. The use phase per- for robust, credible, and independent data regard- formance of PGMs was represented by their appli- ing the environmental footprint of Platinum Group cation in an autocatalyst system in Euro 6d-TEMP Metals (PGMs) and PGM-containing products, the diesel and gasoline cars, assuming a lifetime of International Platinum Group Metals Association 160,000 km and that one catalyst system lasts this (IPA) and its members conducted in 2010 a first vehicle lifetime. This enabled the evaluation of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of PGMs. benefits of PGMs during the vehicle´s lifetime. IPA commissioned the consultancy firm Sphera to The study has been carried out in conformity with undertake an update of this study, reflecting the ISO 14040 (2006), ISO 14044 (2006) and ISO/TS PGM industry‘s environmental performance for the 14071 (2014). As the ISO reviewer confirmed in his year 2017. This second study was finalized in 2020. statement, the defined and achieved scope for this study was found to be appropriate to achieve the The main goal of the study was to assess the current stated goals. Being the second version of the study, cradle-to-gate LCA profile and potential environ- the methodology and procedures reached a high mental impacts of PGMs for both the primary and level of maturity. secondary production routes. A further goal was to understand the use phase performance of PGMs in an autocatalyst application to control tailpipe emis- sions from vehicles meeting the European Euro KEY ACHIEVEMENTS 6d-TEMP emissions standards, including testing under RDE (Real Driving Emissions), and reflecting The outstanding feature of this study is the large in- improved autocatalyst technologies. crease in the amount of primary data collected to reach representative results for global PGM produc- This LCA Fact Sheet focuses on technical and tion. The eleven contributing members of the IPA methodological information and presents the represent more than 95% of primary PGM produc- results for key categories. The document belongs to a tion, more than 70% of secondary PGM production, series of fact sheets reflecting the results of the and over 90% of autocatalyst fabrication. Compared second IPA LCA Study. to the 2010 study, this has increased the indus- try coverage for primary production by 40% and for secondary production by more than 130%. The geo- graphical coverage of PGM operations (production as GOAL AND SCOPE OF well as fabrication of autocatalysts) was broadened THE IPA LCA STUDY 2017 by including production sites in Russia, France, Po- land, Macedonia, and China. The IPA LCA considers the cradle-to-gate primary and secondary production of PGMs. It covers im- The 2017 LCA improves on the 2010 study in sev- pacts associated with the extraction of resources eral aspects. The quality of the data was enhanced from nature up to the point at which the refined prod- by including assay data; measuring a greater range uct leaves the factory gate. For the primary route, of scrap materials in secondary production; collect- the impact associated with the mining of PGM ore is ing data on the production of chrome concen- considered, while for the secondary route end of life trates, which is a by-product at some PGM mines in (EOL) PGM-containing material enters the system South Africa; and by using the GaBi1) 2017 database boundary burden free. for data on fuel and electricity inputs and upstream and downstream raw materials and unit processes. The cradle-to-gate Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) in- cludes the associated use of resources and the emis- Enhanced reporting elements include: presenting sions of all electricity, energy and materials inputs results for the Global Warming Potential (GWP) or im- to PGM production. pact from GHG emissions of primary and secondary 1) Ganzheitliche Bilanzierung (German for holistic balancing / life cycle engineering). 3 LCA THE LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF PLATINUM GROUP METALS (PGMS) production split into Scopes 1, 2 and 3, as defined in Water Consumption; and separate impact assess- the GHG Protocol for corporate reporting; the addi- ments (segregated data) for primary and secondary tion of results for the impact of production on Blue production, which were aggregated in the 2010 study. LCA Study Quick Facts Life cycle stage Primary Secondary Autocatalyst fabrication Geographical coverage South Africa, Zimbabwe, Belgium, UK, Germany, South Africa, UK, USA, Russia Japan, USA, China Germany, Belgium, Poland, Macedonia, France Industry coverage 95% >70% 90% Overall industry Eleven out of twelve IPA members representation Time coverage • Fiscal year 2017 • GaBi (2017) database for upstream process data (non-primary data such as data of consumed material, energy carriers etc.) Methodology • Cradle-to-gate LCI • LCA model created using GaBi (2017) software system (Sphera) • Combination of mass and economic allocation for PGM production • Use phase: modelled on European region using a Euro 6d-TEMP model ve- hicle (gasoline and diesel) from the GaBi (2017) database, and an assumed lifetime of 160,000 km Functional unit • 1 kg of platinum (Pt) (>99.95%), 1 kg of palladium (Pd) (>99.95%), • 1 kg of rhodium (Rh) (>99.90%) Impact categories and • Primary Energy Demand indicators used • Global Warming Potential • Acidification Potential • Eutrophication Potential • Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential • Blue Water Consumption Quality • Conducted by renowned consultancy (Sphera) according to ISO 14040 (2006) & 14044 (2006) and ISO/TS 14071 (2014) • ISO Review by Prof. Dr. Matthias Finkbeiner, Technical University Berlin • Data reviewed for quality and accuracy by independent technical expert William J. Middleton of WJM Environmental Table 1: LCA Quick Facts for the IPA LCA Study 2017 4 LCA THE LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF PLATINUM GROUP METALS (PGMS) LCA SYSTEM BOUNDARIES scope of the study. These by-products have been allocated using the approach described under Data included or excluded from the study is depend- “Allocation” on page 7. ent on the system boundaries identified during the goal and scope definition. Figure 1 below shows The canning of autocatalysts is not considered in the various processes considered in this system, in- this study as it belongs to the vehicle manufacturing cluding the use phase, while the system boundary process. The collection of spent autocatalysts is also of the main study is depicted by the red box, i.e. for not within the boundaries of the study; therefore, the production of PGMs. dismantling of autocatalysts is excluded. The trans- port of fuels and auxiliaries was excluded due to a By-products of the primary and secondary pro- lack of data; however, the impact is expected to be duction of PGMs such as base metals, their considerably smaller than the impacts of transport salts and other precious metals are part of the of ore, concentrate, and EoL materials. System boundaries for the LCA Study Primary Production Secondary Production Mining Concentration Tailings Smelting / Smelting Dissolving Other EoL material containing Base Metals Refinery Precious Metals Refinery Precious Metals Refinery PGMs Leaching Purifying Leaching Purifying Leaching Purifying EoL autocatalysts Pt, Pd, Rh By products: Ir, Os, Ru, Au, Ag Functional Unit: 1 kg of Pt, Pd and Rh Ni, Co, Cu, Base metal Salt production sulphates Other sulphates Cr O Autocatalyst 2 3 H SO production 2 4 Assessment of application Use phase Vehicle EoL of PGMs in autocatalyst Figure 1: System boundaries of the IPA LCA Study 2017 “Life Cycle Assessment of Global Platinum Group Metals Production – Reference Year 2017”, issued by Sphera in October 2020 5 LCA THE LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF PLATINUM GROUP METALS (PGMS) IMPACT CATEGORIES closely connected to air, soil, and water quality, and capture the environmental burdens. The impact potentials for the primary production of 1 g of platinum, 1 g of palladium and 1 g of rhodium are Freshwater scarcity is another increasingly pressing presented in six categories detailed in tables 1 and 22). environmental issue. Hence, water use, an umbrella term for all types of anthropogenic water uses, has Global Warming Potential (GWP) and non-renewable also been addressed in the study. The mining and Primary Energy Demand (PED) were chosen because me tals industry is aware of the physical, regulatory, of their relevance to climate change and energy ef- and reputational risks posed by water use. Neverthe- ficiency, which are strongly interlinked, and of high less, collecting data on water consumption and water public and institutional interest.