ISO FORM 4

NEW WORK ITEM PROPOSAL (NP)DATE OF CIRCULATION:
2023-05-12

CLOSING DATE FOR VOTING:
2023-08-04

PROPOSER:REFERENCE NUMBER:☒ ISO member body:
DIN☐ WITHIN EXISTING COMMITTEE
Document Number:Committee Secretariat:☐ Committee, liaison or other:☒ PROPOSAL FOR A NEW PC

A proposal for a new work item within the scope of an existing committee shall be submitted to thesecretariat of that committee.
A proposal for a new project committee shall be submitted to the Central Secretariat, which willprocess the proposal in accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1,Clause 2.3.
Guidelines for proposing and justifying new work items or new fields of technical activity (ProjectCommittee) are given in ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, Annex C.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Proposals without adequate justification and supporting information risk
rejection or referral to the originator.

PROPOSAL(to be completed by the proposer, following discussion with committee leadership if appropriate)
English title
Sustainable Raw Materials
French title(Please see ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, Annex C, Clause C.4.2).
In case of amendment, revision or a new part of an existing document, please include the reference
number and current title
SCOPE(Please see ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, Annex C, Clause C.4.3)
This document specifies criteria for sustainable raw materials along industry best practices and isintended to be used for mineral-, raw iron- and non-iron-metals. It is applicable to the full value chainof all raw materials, from extraction (mining) to processing, to refining, to final product manufacturing,
thereby including the full upstream and downstream value chain. It does not apply to the mine closure
and/or mine reclamation stage activities as these stages are not considered integral parts of the valuechain.

PURPOSE AND JUSTIFICATION(Please see ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, Annex C and additional guidance on justification statementsin the brochure Guidance on New Work)In spite of an increasing regulatory framework for sustainable recovery and processing of raw
materials, there are currently no standards available for industry implementation so that industry
stakeholders cannot document compliancy of their sustainable mining, processing and refining
operations with accepted criteria for sustainable raw materials. A horizontal approach and commonguidelines for all raw materials, developed by the proposed ISO/PC, is required to avoid overlaps in
the ISO set of standards and to enable wide dissemination and application of the ISO set of standards
by industry.
Currently several existing ISO/TCs are starting to work on sustainability aspects separately. Such an
uncoordinated approach would lead to the development of conflicting ISO standards with different
requirements for different raw materials by these ISO/TCs. ISO/TC 298 and ISO/TC 333 had alreadyacknowledged that working on sustainability matters separately is not purposeful before the proposal
for an ISO/PC was first brought up
In 2021, ISO/TMB established a Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) with the mandate to undertake ananalysis of existing and potential standardisation work within ISO in the area of critical minerals fromthe point of initial extraction and processing steps through to pre-cursor materials and makerecommendations to the TMB in this regard. Following the initial mandate a second phase of work
was agreed which requested the SAG to review tools and standards outside ISO on Environmental
Social Governance issues (ESG) specific to Critical Minerals, examine the market need of thesuggested activities, and set priorities for future work. This work is due to be presented to the TMB
in June 2023.
This proposal shows that there is active deliberation and discussion relating to critical minerals. The
outcomes of the consultation of this new work item will be examined in conjunction with theoutcomes of the final report being prepared by the Strategic Advisory Group. Frequent exchange
between the proposers and the SAG leadership has taken place to ensure that the contents of thisproposal are in line with the contents pursued by the SAG.
The standard would aim to provide a framework that can be audited, certified and benchmarked
against ESG criteria. It would refer to existing benchmarked standards known to be compliant withregulations.
The standard would also define sustainable raw materials as requested by legally-binding regulations
by government and the associated ESG criteria required for testing, auditing, and benchmarking.
PROPOSED PROJECT LEADER (name and email address)
Dr. Michael HASCHKE, Michael.Haschke@dmt-group.com
PROPOSER (including contact information of the proposer’s representative)
DIN, Amelie Banhart, amelie.banhart@din.de☒

The proposer confirms that this proposal has been drafted in compliance with ISO/IEC
Directives, Part 1, Annex C

PROJECT MANAGEMENTPreferred document

☒☐☐International Standard
Technical Specification
Publicly Available Specification** While a formal NP ballot is not required (no eForm04), the NP form may provide useful information
for the committee P-members to consider when deciding to initiate a Publicly AvailableSpecification.
Proposed Standard Development Track (SDT – to be discussed by the proposer with the committeemanager or ISO/CS)☐ 18 months☐ 24 months☒

36 months

Proposed date for first meeting: 2023-07-12
Proposed TARGET dates for key milestones••••Circulation of 1 st Working Draft (if any) to experts: 2024-06-03
Committee Draft consultation (if any): 2025-03-01
DIS submission*: 2025-12-02
Publication*: 2026-12-01* Target Dates for DIS submission and Publication should be set a few weeks ahead of the limit
dates automatically determined when selecting the SDT.
It is proposed that this DOCUMENT will be developed by:☐☐☐☐☒☐☐☒An existing Working Group, add titleA new Working Group(Note that the establishment of a new Working Group requires approval by the parent committee by aresolution)
The TC/SC directly
To be determined
This proposal relates to a new ISO document
This proposal relates to the adoption, as an active project, of an item currently registered as aPreliminary Work Item
This proposal relates to the re-establishment of a cancelled project as an active project
Other: In the ISO/PC directly

Additional guidance on project management is available here.

PREPARATORY WORK☐☐☒A draft is attachedAn existing document serving as the initial basis is attachedAn outline is attached
Note: at minimum an outline of the proposed document is required

The proposer is prepared to undertake the preparatory work required:☒Yes ☐ No

If a draft is attached to this proposal:

Please select from one of the following options:☒☐☐

The draft document can be registered at Preparatory stage (WD – stage 20.00)
The draft document can be registered at Committee stage (CD – stage 30.00)
The draft document can be registered at enquiry stage (DIS – stage 40.00)☐If the attached document is copyrighted or includes copyrighted content, the proposer confirmsthat copyright permission has been granted for ISO to use this content in compliance withclause 2.13 of ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 (see also the Declaration on copyright).

RELATION OF THE PROPOSAL TO EXISTING INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS AND ON-GOING
STANDARDIZATION WORKTo the best of your knowledge, has this or a similar proposal been submitted to another standards
development organization or to another ISO committee?
☐Yes☒

NoIf Yes, please specify which one(s)☒The proposer has checked whether the proposed scope of this new project overlaps with the scope ofany existing ISO project

A new ISO/PC would aim to build on existing standards by merging the existing knowledge, uniting it
and adding to it such a way that the standard yielded can be applied to all primary and secondary raw
materials, including mineral-, raw iron-, non-iron metals and non-agricultural raw materials. There areseveral committees working on matters concerning various mineral-, raw iron- and non-iron-metals orsustainability of other materials such as secondary materials. The following committees (and theirdocuments) have been thoroughly reviewed and any overlaps or duplications with the proposed
ISO/PC scope were ruled out:
• ISO/TC 82/SC 7 “Mine closure and reclamation management”,• ISO/TC 207 “Environmental Management” (in particular ISO/CD 59014 "Environmental
Management and Circular Economy– Sustainability and traceability of secondary materials recovery– Principles and requirements“),• ISO/TC 298 “Rare Earth,• ISO/TC 331 “Biodiversity” (in particular ISO/PWI TS 18260 „Biodiversity and Raw Material:
Considering biodiversity protection in the first step of the supply chain. Guidelines on
the extraction of abiotic raw material and its impacts on biodiversity“),• ISO/TC 333 “Lithium” and• ISO/TMB SAG CRMI “Strategic Advisory Group on Critical Minerals”.
This proposal has been presented to ISO/TMB SAG CRMI and UNECE and there has been a dedicatedmeeting with the SAG CRMI Leadership to make sure that the proposal fits seamlessly into the workof the SAG.
ISO/TC 298 and ISO/TC 333 had already acknowledged that working on sustainability mattersseparately is not purposeful before the proposal for an ISO/PC was first brought up.
☐If an overlap or the potential for overlap is identified, the proposer and the leaders of the existing project
have discussed on:i. modification/restriction of the scope of the proposal to avoid overlapping,ii. potential modification/restriction of the scope of the existing project to avoid overlapping.

☐If agreement with parties responsible for existing project(s) has not been reached, please explain why
the proposal should be approved☐

Has a proposal on this subject already been submitted within an existing committee and rejected? If so,
what were the reasons for rejection?

This project may require possible joint/parallel work with
☐ IEC (please specify the committee)☐ CEN (please specify the committee)☐ Other (please specify)
Please select any UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that this proposed project
would support (information about SDGs, is available at www.iso.org/SDGs)☒ GOAL 1: No Poverty☐ GOAL 2: Zero Hunger☐ GOAL 3: Good Health and Well-being☐ GOAL 4: Quality Education☐ GOAL 5: Gender Equality☐GOAL 6: Clean Water and Sanitation☒ GOAL 7: Affordable and Clean Energy☒ GOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth☒ GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure☐GOAL 10: Reduced Inequality☐ GOAL 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities☒ GOAL 12: Responsible Consumption and Production☒ GOAL 13: Climate Action☐ GOAL 14: Life Below Water☐ GOAL 15: Life on Land
☐ GOAL 16: Peace, Justice and strong institutions
N/A
GOAL 17: Partnerships for the goals
Identification and description of relevant affected stakeholder categories(Please see ISO CONNECT)
Benefits/Impacts/Examples
Industry and commerce – large industry

BENEFITS : Transition to sustainable raw materials
extraction and processing procedures according toestablished ESG criteria ;IMPACTS : Uniform and consistent ESG criteria forsustainable raw materials extraction for all mining
industry stakeholders worldwide;
EXAMPLES : Successful pilot-audited Co mining in DRC
for Volkswagen car batteries, Sustainable aluminium
extraction and production from raw material to end
product for BMW Group by Rio Tinto.

Industry and commerce – SMEs

Enables criteria-based and thus transparent and credible
communication of sustainability for critical raw materials

Government

BENEFIT : Implementation of regulatory legal
frameworks, IMPACT: Implementation of regulatory
framework (e.g. EU Critical Raw Materials Act, EUPrinciples for Sustainable Raw Materials) for the raw
materials industry worldwide;
EXAMPLES : e.g. German Supply Chain Act, EU CriticalRaw Materials Act

Consumers

BENEFIT/IMPACT: Supports and implements consumer
consciousness and request for sustainably extracted andmanufactured end products by utilizing sustainably
extracted raw material value chains. EXAMPLES :Successful pilot-audited Co mining in DRC for
Volkswagen car batteries, Sustainable aluminium
extraction and production from raw material to endproduct for BMW Group by Rio Tinto

Labour

BENEFIT/IMPACT/ EXAMPLE: Allows to implement

accepted ESG criteria, which include definition offair labour conditions in the mining , processing andrefining industry.

Academic and research bodies

BENEFIT/IMPACT/EXAMPLE: Enables researchers, forinstance to explore improvement and optimization ofsustainable value chains, investigate price sensitivity
analyses for products manufactured with sustainable raw
materials, analyze resulting changes in public receptionof mining upon implementation of sustainable raw
materials standards

Standards application businesses

BENEFIT/IMPACT/EXAMPLE: Will enable large businesspotential for TIC (testing-inspection-certification) industry
by facilitating independent third-party auditing andcertification of regulatory compliancy in the mining
industry worldwide.

Non-governmental organizations

BENEFIT/IMPACT/EXAMPLE: Accomodates NGO
requests by implementing sustainable raw materials
value chains in the mining industry.

Listing of countries where the subject of the proposal is important for their nationalcommercial interests (Please see ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, Annex C, Clause C.4.8)
Australia, Japan, China, Canada, USA, UK, France and various other countries in Africa, SouthAmerica, the Middle East and Northern Europe
Listing of external international organizations or internal parties (other ISO and/or IECcommittees) to be engaged in this work (Please see ISO/IEC Directives, part 1, Annex C, ClauseC.4.9)
Listing of relevant documents (such as standards and regulations) at international, regionaland national level (Please see ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, Annex C, Clause C.4.6)
EU Critical Raw Materials Act, EU Principles for Sustainable Raw Materials, EU Directive on
Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence, EU Battery Regulation, German Supply Chain Act, GBR(German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources) report
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Maintenance Agencies (MAs) and Registration Authorities (RAs)☐This proposal requires the designation of a maintenance agency.
If so, please identify the potential candidate:☐This proposal requires the designation of a registration authority.
If so, please identify the potential candidate

NOTE: Selection and appointment of the MA or RA are subject to the procedure outlined in ISO/IEC
Directives, Part 1, Annex G and Annex H.
Known patented Items (Please see ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, Clause 2.14)☐Yes☒

NoIf Yes, provide full information as an annex
Is this proposal for an ISO management System Standard (MSS)?
☐Yes☒

NoNote: If yes, this proposal must have an accompanying justification study. Please see theConsolidated Supplement to the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, Annex SL or Annex JG

PROPOSAL ISO/PC Sustainable Raw Materials
A new standard for sustainable raw materials should:

 Be Modular (along industry best practices and criteria).
 Cover the full supply chain of all raw materials (not mine closure/reclamation).

 Harmonize activities on sustainability through liaisons (e.g. ISO/TC 298 and 333).
 Close gaps in the existing ISO standards catalogue.

Proposed Structure of an ISO standard for sustainable raw materials:
1) List of compliancy frameworks/regulations.

2) List of primary and secondary raw material value chains addressed (non-agricultural rawmaterials).

3) List of accepted industry best practices related to accepted G7/G20 ESG criteria forsustainable raw materials, to be harmonized with global standard organizations.

1© 2023, DIN e. V.