Umicore Announces Partnership with The International Life Cycle Chair

Online, April 19, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Today the Polytechnique Montreal and ESG UQAM launched the International Life Cycle Chair, a research unit that is part of the globally renowned CIRAIG, the Interuniversity Research Centre for the Life Cycle of Products, Processes and Services. Umicore is one of the 14 international partners contributing $500,000 each to the overall $7 million five-year budget.

The International Life Cycle Chair will conduct high-level academic research on the full impact that products and services have on our society from a total-cycle environmental and social perspective.

Staf Laget, Umicore Leader for Climate, Recycling & Product Sustainability, said: "At Umicore we believe that it is essential to develop a full understanding of the impact that our products have on the world from an ecological, social, and economic standpoint. We are very proud to be a Life Cycle Chair partner and are looking forward to receiving independent scientific advice from the Life Cycle research center regarding our sustainability approach for our products and services."

In recent years Umicore has developed a methodology to deepen the understanding of the lifecycles and impacts of its products, combining the best of current industry practice in this field with in-house expertise. The partnership with the Polytechnique Montreal and ESG UQAM allows Umicore to submit its methodology to independent scientific analysis and will help the company continue to strive for improvement in the area of product sustainability.

"The life cycle approach enables coherent decision-making on the social, economic, and environmental levels," said Rejean Samson, principal chair-holder. "The research conducted by the International Life Cycle Chair will promote voluntary corporate actions towards more sustainable production and consumption patterns. We are delighted to count Umicore among our sustainable partners."

For more information on the Life Cycle Chair: www.ciraig.org

About Umicore:

Umicore is a global materials technology group. It focuses on application areas where its expertise in materials science, chemistry and metallurgy makes a real difference. Its activities are centred on four business areas: Catalysis, Energy Materials, Performance Materials and Recycling.Each business area is divided into market-focused business units offering materials and solutions that are at the cutting edge of new technological developments and essential to everyday life.

Umicore generates the majority of its revenues and dedicates most of its R&D efforts to clean technologies, such as emission control catalysts, materials for rechargeable batteries and photo-voltaics, fuel cells, and recycling.

Umicore's overriding goal of sustainable value creation is based on an ambition to develop, produce and recycle materials in a way that fulfills its mission: materials for a better life. The Umicore Group has industrial operations on all continents and serves a global customer base; it generated a turnover of € 14.5 billion (€ 2.3 billion excluding metal) in 2011 and currently employs some 14,600 people. For more information visit www.umicore.com.