INDUSTRIAL MINERALS ASSOCIATION EUROPE

BELGIUM

Brief Description

IMA-Europe is an umbrella organisation, counting to date ten European associations specific to individual minerals and representing the producers of calcium carbonate (GCC, PCC) and dolomite (CCA-Europe), bentonite (EUBA), lime (EuLA), borates (EBA), kaolin & plastic clays (KPC-Europe), feldspar (EUROFEL), industrial silica (quartz and cristobalite) (EUROSIL), talc (EUROTALC), diatomite (IDPA), sepiolite, vermiculite, mica, andalusite and wollastonite (ESMA).

IMA-Europe’s current membership is drawn from about 500 companies or groups, employing around 42.000 people and producing 180 million tons/year of industrial minerals for a value exceeding EUR 10 billion in 23 EU Member States, plus Croatia, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine. In each of its member associations, IMA-Europe counts the main EU producers of industrial minerals.

Since the early times of its creation mid-1990, IMA-Europe is an active member of the Raw Materials Supply Group. IMA contributed to the development of DG ENTR Sustainable Development Indicators, DG ENVI Natura 2000 Guidelines for the NEEI, signed the first social dialogue multi-sectoral agreement (NEPSI), took part in the Raw Materials Initiative deployment as well as the development of the contributing to the Criticality WG and the Land-Use planning WG. IMA is also a contributor of the Circular Economy and Sustainable Development Goals policy agenda.

IMA is also member of Sustainable Processing Industries for Resource and Energy Efficiency (SPIRE together with seven other sectors notably: chemicals, steel, non-ferrous, cement, ceramic, water and engineering) and have contributed to the SPIRE 2050 vision for the processing industries in EU.

Main tasks and responsibilities within the project

IMA is expected to contribute and participate in open workshops and the dialogue with the members of the consortium in exchanging views about the outcomes. The consortium is very much steel and chemical industry oriented, however the replicability of the findings with other sectors will be investigated.

The activities that IMA will be involved are:

  • Inform mineral members about the project, the tools developed and content of deliverables

  • Organise and co-chair workshops with their members to exchange and set up a dialogue about the results of the CORALIS project, mainly in the field of tools to increase EMR and ERL. Those workshops will aim at exploring and validating the extent to which those tools and advises/recommendations would be applicable/replicable in mineral companies;

  • Assessing replicability of the project results applicable to the minerals sector,

  • How to inform and engage companies in the minerals sector in implementing those Good practices in their companies,

  • Identify what the barriers are in the minerals sector;

  • Provide the CORALIS consortium with general recommendations and information to enrich the general guidelines of the project (in WP3 and 4, but in particular, the handbook to be developed in Task 10.5).