Sustainability

Good Health & Well-being

We value the safety and well-being of our employees, contractors, suppliers, business partners, and community members.

Albemarle has a robust set of safety standards, policies, and procedures at both the corporate and site level.  We also have various programs in place to recognize and mitigate hazards (our SCAN program), our employees receive regular training in life-saving rules and we have a Special Event Management Plan. We monitor and report our safety performance and the results are part of the Annual Incentive Program for named executive officers and most of our global employees.

We continuously work toward zero injuries, process safety incidents, and environmental releases. By keeping our operations safe and minimizing emissions we also contribute to the well-being of communities around our sites.

Gender equality

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) are essential to our ability to effectively carry out our mission, and gender equality is an important element of that.

Gender equality is a fundamental and value-enhancing tenet that is critical to our company culture and decision-making practices. We continuously work to attract, hire, develop, and retain high-quality, diverse talent and provide the opportunity for success independent of gender.

We strive to ensure all our employees feel a sense of belonging, remain engaged, and are comfortable sharing their views and opinions. We aim to have a diverse workforce where all employees can reach their full potential in an inclusive environment while leveraging unique skills, backgrounds, and experiences to drive innovation in the marketplace. We commit to an equitable workplace where our employees have fair access to opportunities to achieve their career aspirations. We actively work to remove systemic barriers by challenging and responding to bias and discrimination within our workplace and in the communities where we work and live.

In 2020, we appointed a Vice President Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), who is responsible for the DE&I strategy. Gender equality is an important dimension of this strategy. Women-led Connect Groups, women talent development and unconscious bias training are examples of our approach and the contribution to SDG 5.

Cleanwater and Sanitation

Water is a critical input to Albemarle’s production operations. As water is a scarce resource, we understand the need to responsibly manage our water consumption not only for the preservation of the environment, but for the viability of our local communities.

We measure water withdrawal including water from rivers and lakes, extracted groundwater, collected and stored rainwater, municipal water, and water obtained from other utilities. Brine (a source of lithium and bromine) is not included in this calculation because its extreme salinity makes it unsuitable as a freshwater source.

Several of our production operations are in areas of high or extremely high-water risk, as categorized by the World Resources Institute (WRI) Aqueduct Atlas. It is important for Albemarle to be especially conscious of how we manage our use of water resources in these sensitive areas.

Our water consumption is reviewed on a quarterly basis at our executive meetings which include leadership from our business units and their direct reports. In early 2021, the Health, Safety & Environment Committee of Albemarle’s Board of Directors set a goal to reduce our intensity of freshwater usage by 25% by 2030 in areas of high or extremely high-water risk.

Affordable and clean energy

Our products enable the production of clean and affordable energy.

Albemarle products are essential for the production and storage of affordable and clean energy. Lithium is indispensable in modern energy storage solutions, with every electric vehicle (EV) deriving at least some of its power from a battery containing lithium. Lithium is also increasingly used for grid storage, enabling the use of solar and wind energy in remote places when the sun does not shine or in absence of wind.

Our catalysts solutions enable refineries to reduce their energy use (and GHG-emissions) and produce cleaner and more efficient transportation fuels. For example, our hydroprocessing catalysts (HPC) are used by refiners to operate desulfurization processes at less severe conditions, leading to significant energy and greenhouse gas reduction. The use of our catalysts enables the avoidance of about 10 million metric tons of sulfur emissions annually.

Decent work and economic growth 

At Albemarle, people are our best asset and the key to our success.

We strive to provide our employees with a competitive compensation and benefits package, including performance incentives, opportunities for career advancement, and resources to empower them to effectively manage their health and well-being and personally thrive.

We focus on hiring the right people for the right roles and investing in their personal and professional development to give them the tools they need to succeed and grow at Albemarle. This philosophy on investing in talent allows us to be future focused—to equip our employees with the knowledge and experience they need not just today, but five and 10 years into their Albemarle career.

We also work to ensure that our suppliers are socially, legally, and ethically responsible—and treat the people who work for them fairly and with dignity.

We purchase materials from more than 13 thousand suppliers for a combined spend of nearly $2 billion. For more information on responsible sourcing, including how we manage conflict minerals risk, please see the responsible sourcing section of our website.

iNDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Innovation is embedded in our core values – curiosity inspires innovation and collaboration is how we drive innovation both within Albemarle and in partnership with our customers.

We are proud to design and develop products that contribute to a more sustainable world for all. Our global research and development team of scientists and engineers has made tremendous strides in our sustainability efforts and are eager to take on new challenges. Whether it is enabling electrification, cleaner transportation, or improved fire safety standards, Albemarle is pushing the boundaries of what is possible while expanding our competitive advantage.

sustainable cities and communities

Albemarle is passionate about collaborating with and contributing to the communities where we live and work.

We take pride in being a part of the fabric of our communities, and we consider their well-being in our business decisions. In cases where Albemarle’s operations are in areas with indigenous populations, we work to maintain positive relations with these groups through open, transparent communication as well as economic and community development. Through Albemarle Foundation and Albemarle Foundation Global, we support our communities in the U.S. and around the world through charitable donations, employee volunteerism, and a matching gift program. Finally, Albemarle engages with a wide variety of stakeholder groups to build and foster strong relationships, share information, gather feedback, and advocate for sustainable solutions to global challenges.

Responsible consumption and productioN

Resource stewardship means responsibly managing our natural resources to operate efficiently and preserve the environment for our local communities and the world.

Albemarle’s growth strategy includes long-range plans for our businesses to maintain leading positions in the markets we serve. To do this, we must ensure the safe and responsible handling of critical raw materials and ensure that our products are produced in an environmentally sustainable way.

Two of our core businesses—Lithium and Bromine—are dependent on the availability and responsible management of natural resources, such as, brine and spodumene. Our initiatives to manage and maintain these resources in a sustainable manner include developing programs to reduce our greenhouse gas and water footprint.

Climate action

We acknowledge our responsibility to address the impact of our operations on the environment, and our corporate values – Care, Curiosity, Integrity & Transparency – are driving our actions to address climate change.

Albemarle is proud to say that our products play a critical role in reducing GHG emissions while helping our customers achieve their sustainability goals.

For example:

• One kilogram of CO₂ emitted in our Lithium production delivers more than 50 kilograms of CO₂ avoidance annually in the use phase.
• The use of our refining catalysts enables cleaner, more efficient transportation fuels and reduced GHG emissions by refiners.
• Bromine is added to butyl rubber to extend tire life, reduce fuel consumption, and minimize CO₂ emissions.

We support the goals of the Paris Agreement - to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2°C (WB2C) - and are pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.  This is not only the right thing to do, but it will also strengthen our competitive position, improve our operational efficiency, and create value for our stakeholders.