Sustainable development

Rio Tinto's Iron Ore group seeks to balance economic, social and environmental considerations across all parts of its business. This is achieved by making sustainable development considerations an integral part of our business plans and decision-making processes.

Our Sustainable Development and Climate Change Panel supports senior leadership to embed sustainable development into the way we work. The group oversees the organisation's identification and management of economic, environmental and social risks, and opportunities.

In addition to our statement of business practice, The way we work, we define our commitment to sustainable development with nine principles.  Together, these principles guide the way we plan for the future.

Closure

The closure of a mine or other operating sites requires planning beyond simply rehabilitating the site. We consider the management of social issues resulting from closure, especially in remote areas where communities are dependent on the socio-economic benefits of the mine.

We plan for closure from the earliest stages of project development to decommissioning activities and are guided by the Rio Tinto Closure Standard.

The intent of the standard is to ensure that Rio Tinto managed activities are left in a condition which minimises adverse impacts on the human and natural environment.

Our experiences with closure planning have helped the business understand that the environmental and social legacy is possibly the most tangible indicator of an operations contribution to sustainable development in the areas where we operate.  Consequently, we have adopted a multi-disciplinary approach to closure planning, requiring a wide range of technical and business disciplines. 

These activities allow us to influence the design, development, operation and closure of all managed operations to ensure post-closure outcomes that meet needs and expectations outside of the business.

Product stewardship

Product stewardship means understanding the life cycle of the metals and minerals we produce, including the safe production, use and disposal of metal and mineral products as the need for them continues in society.

Increasingly, producers have both individual and joint responsibility with other stakeholders  to ensure that products are managed safely across their life cycles.  Our product stewardship work allows us to improve our understanding of the health, safety and environmental implications of the use of our products. Rio Tinto's product stewardship strategy emphasises the importance of understanding threats and opportunities in the market, and the importance of engagement with key stakeholders including customers, suppliers, regulators and communities.

We are in the process of implementing a formal material-stewardship programme, as well as completing life cycle assessments on key products. Material stewardship is a collective term for resource, process and product stewardship. It means better understanding and taking responsibility for our iron ore products, from their discovery and mining, production, use and management at end of life.