Sustainable Development Goal 12 relates to Responsible Consumption & Production. Goal 12 has numerous objectives that are relevant to our sector:
- By 2030, achieve the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources;
- By 2020, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment;
- By 2030, sustainably reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse; and
- Encourage companies, especially large and transnational companies, to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information to their reporting cycle.
This goal is of particular importance to Impossible Metals, as our primary mission is to develop technologies that will allow humanity to access and utilize key natural resources in a way that is environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable. We contribute to SDG #12 in the following ways:
- We are developing robotics technology to sustainably collect mineral resources from the deep sea floor
- We are developing bio-extraction technology to extract metal resources from ore, avoiding the use of harsh chemicals like arsenic, delivering improved energy efficiency, and reducing waste generation.
In 2023 we are aiming to deliver prototype or “proof of concept” outcomes for both our robotics and bioextraction technology. We consider the commercialization of this technology to be our goal in contributing to SDG 12, and will report on our progress towards commercialization in our 2023 Annual Report.
