Reducing waste generated and increasing recycling rates are necessary conditions for sustainable development. Responsible disposal of the waste we generated, communities and our normal operation. A large amount of waste, including tailings, waste rock, and hazardous waste, is generated during the mining, beneficiation, and processing of ore. Improper waste management may result in negative impacts on the environment and the health of surrounding communities, and the scope of impact may exceed expectations and have far-reaching effects.

• By 2030, non-hazardous waste comprehensive utilisation rate will have increased by 5% compared with 2020
• By 2030, the emission intensity of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides by revenue will be reduced by 5% compared with 2020

We strictly abide by China's environmental protection laws and regulations, including the “Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Waste”, the “Pollution Control Standard for General Industrial Solid Waste Storage and Landfill”, the “Pollution Control Standard for Hazardous Waste Storage”, and the relevant national environmental protection laws and regulations where our subsidiaries are located. We adopt the best international practices to manage our waste emissions with further reference made to the IFC's “Environment, Health and Safety General Guidelines”. The Company Board and management team include waste management in our environmental target management system based on the responsibility for emission performance and the formulation of emissions reduction strategies.

We conduct leaching test s on mining waste according to the standard requirements of the host countries, and determine whether it will dissolve and release toxic and harmful substances after longterm immersion, weathering, and stacking, as well as possible risks to the surrounding environment, communities, and water bodies. For solid waste with higher risks, we control and treat it according to the classification of hazardous utilise; for solid waste with low risk, we control and utilize it according to the classification of general solid waste. We use the most stringent benchmarks to identify and manage emissions risks, to prevent environmental incidents caused by incorrect handling of emissions.

To protect the health, safety of our employees, contractors, and surrounding communities and good environment and prevent dust from escaping, we have formulated scientific dust prevention and control measures for different working areas, including underground ventilation and dust removal, dust control during crushing and conveyor belt transportation, dust collectors, and dust removing sprayers in open-pit blasting or transportation. We have developed comprehensive utilisation of a large amount of flue gas and dust generated in smelting production, which not only prevents the waste of resources, but also greatly reduces air emissions and the impact of our production activities. The economic benefits brought by the comprehensive utilisation will further promote the continuous improvement of the recycling rate of waste heat, nitrogen and sulphur oxides, and dust in various projects.

Our hazardous waste mainly comes from the smelting process, including waste oil, hazardous waste from gold smelting (cyanide slag) and copper smelting (lead filter cake, white smoke dust, arsenic filter cake, copper telluride slag, etc.), and lead smelting (lead silver slag, alum slag, etc.). We strictly follow the pollution prevention and control requirements of the relevant laws and regulations of the host countries, with effective tracking and management of the entire life cycle of  materials from the beginning to the end. We use non-toxic and non-hazardous or low-toxic and low-hazardous raw materials to replace those that are highly toxic and hazardous while optimising the original production process and equipment to improve resource utilisation, hereby reducing the hazardous waste generated from the source.