Is it possible for a big company that manufactures heavy equipment for crushing and screening aggregates, minerals processing, metal refining, chemical processing as well as metal / waste recycling – to have a truly sustainable business model?
This counter-intuitive proposition warrants further investigation.
Back in July of 2020 Metso and Outotec merged. Metso was a recognized leader in front-end mineral processing, while Outotec focused on the back-end. With this product complement, Metso Outotec is now poised to be a global powerhouse in end-to-end mineral processing products. This is good news for the mining industry sector – where customers are highly cost-conscious and always on the lookout for more efficient, turnkey solutions.
The company has global reach and scale. They are headquartered in Finland and listed on the NASDAQ Helsinki. Metso Outotec employs over 15,000 people in more than 50 countries worldwide, with combined sales of €4.2 billion in 2019.
Commitment to Sustainability
As sustainable processing of the world’s natural resources becomes the new norm within many business sectors, including mining – the newly formed company is actively seeking to drive this transformation.
It is our core expertise to help our customers transform the industry. We offer sustainable technologies and services that reduce the consumption of energy and water by increasing process efficiency, recycling and reprocessing of tailings and waste. – President and CEO Pekka Vauramo said in a recent press release.
For Metso Outotec sustainability means they are doing things more efficiently and responsibly – in terms of the environment, people and the economy. They view these three dimensions as being critical through their value chain, from research and development to their end products.
Prior to the merger, both companies had made tangible progress on their respective sustainability efforts:
For Metso sustainability meant that they did things efficiently and responsibly in terms of the environment, people and the economy. They believed one of the best ways to promote sustainable development was to innovate new and better technologies and to change current ways of operating.
Examples of Metso’s innovating for sustainability include Vertimill – a highly energy efficient grinding mill delivering typical energy savings of 25-50%. They have also taken steps to improve customers’ sustainable productivity through digitalization – by providing maintenance crews and operators at mine sites with new visibility and insights to their machine’s operations with predictive maintenance programs.
For Outotec sustainability focused on better use of Earth’s natural resources and helping customers to meet their sustainability goals. Their actions to address climate change included adopting science-based targets to reduce their carbon footprint in 2018 and to reduce energy consumption and indirect reduction of emissions, including carbon dioxide. This resulted in a 6.6 million ton C02-e emission reduction in 2019.
Outotec’ significant sustainability topics included a strategy that served customers with leading technologies, super customer service and excellent execution. This was backed by five developmental areas, including customer focus, service business, product competitiveness, project excellence and providing engaged employees as experts.
TCFD Framework
The company has also embraced the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) guidelines that help identify, measure and report the financial implications of climate change. The work and recommendations of the Task Force helps companies like Metso Outotec understand what financial markets want from disclosure in order to measure and respond to climate change risks and encourage firms to align their climate-related financial disclosures with investors’ needs.
Partner for Positive Change
Coming out of the merger the company’s strategic positioning is stated as “Partner for Positive Change.” This promise is backed by the technologies and services the company offers its customers – that reduce the consumption of energy and water by increasing process efficiency, recycling and the reprocessing of tailings and waste.
Metso Outotec’s end-to-end solutions helps their customers improve profitability by lowering their operating costs and risks. The company also has strong R&D with an orientation towards innovation – always looking for new ways to do things faster, better and more efficiently.
This partnership orientation and strong commitment to adopting more sustainable business practices paints a bright future for this mining sector giant and an acknowledgement that they “dare to care” about creating a better world.
