Nickel is the fifth most abundant element by weight in the earth's composition. In addition to the abundant ore reserves in the earth’s crust, there is a strong commercial incentive for recycling because nickel is an expensive material. Most nickel products have a lengthy life cycle that averages more than 25 years. At the end of the life of these products, nickel can be recycled repeatedly.

Nickel is rarely used in its purest form. Most nickel is combined with other metals to form alloys. As a transition metal, it combines readily with other metals, especially iron, chromium and copper, to produce alloys with particular combinations of properties that cannot be achieved by pure metals:

• Alloys of iron, nickel and chromium can be formulated to combine strength and ductility with resistance to corrosion in various environments. The most widely known of these alloys is stainless steel, which is increasingly used in transportation, construction and in industrial applications in the chemical industry and in oil and gas engineering, where the environment can be very corrosive.
• Other alloys of nickel, chromium and other metals have been developed for very-high-temperature strength and corrosion resistance. These alloys are used in jet engines and in industrial gas turbines for electricity generation. They are also used in heater elements, resistance wires, heat exchangers in power plants, furnace components and industrial pumps and valves.

Other nickel-containing alloys are used for specialist applications requiring special properties like magnetic attraction and controlled expansion. Alloys of nickel and iron are used in television sets and other electronic applications, while nickel-containing alloy steels are used in the automotive industry and in other special applications.

Nickel is one of the most versatile metals. It is both hard and malleable, resists corrosion and maintains its mechanical and physical characteristics even when subjected to extreme temperatures. Its unique qualities have made it useful in millions of applications. Certain applications are critically dependent on nickel. These include:

• manufacture of jet engines,
• production of process plant equipment used in important industries such as food, drink, oil, chemicals and pharmaceutical production,
• pressing of CDs and DVDs,
• rechargeable battery systems.¹

Nickel makes these and many other products possible, products that enrich our lives today.

Inco’s commitment to product stewardship reflects the ongoing and innovative development of new uses for nickel by society. We have demonstrated a standard of care by doing our best to ensure the health and safety of people and the environment where our products are made, shipped, used, re-used, recycled and disposed. Inco’s product stewardship model is understood as the management of the quality and safety, health and environmental aspects of our products from our shipping gate onward.

“Inco has embraced sustainable development and product stewardship as an integral part of our business and corporate culture,” says Damian D'Aguiar, the company's Manager of Product Stewardship. “We are spending literally millions of dollars supporting research on safe production and use of nickel both in the workplace and in applications used by society. We ensure that we are packaging and shipping our products properly and have the right answers to our customers' questions on the content of Material Safety Data Sheets, and to the application of regulations around the world.”

Inco’s commitment to recycling is reflected in our actions:

• Processed over 30,000 tonnes of external recycled nickel-containing material at our Sudbury and Thompson sites in 2002.
• Recovered approximately one million troy ounces of platinum-group metals (PGMs) as well as gold and silver at our refinery in Acton, England.
• Recovered approximately 26,000 tonnes of metal from waste material at Inmetco, our U.S.-based subsidiary in 2002.

• Develop a primer on product stewardship for our global sales and marketing network to enhance their level of awareness of Inco's product stewardship program, issues and priorities.
• Introduce a formal product stewardship audit program to ensure that effective management systems are in place on product handling, storage and security to ensure the integrity and safe handling of Inco products.
• Post Inco's Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) electronically on valeinco.com.

For more about Inco’s Product Stewardship program, please see Inco’s Environmental, Health and Safety Report.

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¹ Socio-economic impact of nickel uses in the European Union, A baseline analysis prepared for the European Nickel Forum, December 12, 2003 by The Weinberg Group LLC, Brussels, Belgium.

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