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Select SDGs to find out how we are taking action in support of the UN Substinable Development Goals

Circular Economy

ICL develops products and methods to enable participation in creating a global circular economy, both by developing processes in its own facilities and by looking for opportunities with partners as part of its business strategy. In addition, ICL develops products from its own byproducts to minimize waste, and reviews how its current products perform in a circularity framework. \

Companies must transition to circular economies to reach a low carbon footprint, resource efficiency and competitive economy. A circular economy maintains the value of products, materials, and resources for as long as possible, reduces waste generation, and saves energy.

12.5
By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse.

In order to minimize the environmental impact of products at the end of their respective life cycles, ICL has embraced an Integrated Industry Approach. According to this approach, the industrial production process shifts from a linear process, in which raw resources are passed through the production chain and eventually become waste, to a circular process where process output serves as input for other production processes. We are innovating new products from what was previously regarded by us as by-products or waste, as well as working to optimize our production processes. 

As ICL develops more sustainable products from its varied output streams, intense efforts are being made to integrate its products and by-products into circular processes. ICL’s highly integrated value chains use advanced processes which utilize process outputs and by-products to enable a cost-efficient conversion of raw materials into higher value added products.

Our Ambition Creates Excellence (ACE) program has been expanded (from the original energy savings ambitious plan) to include the development of a standardized approach for Circular Economy that will systematically review ICL’s waste streams, by-products and other outputs from operations, and identify opportunities to develop new and useful products, as well as to optimize operations.

Circular Economy as Part of a Low Carbon Economy

As half of total greenhouse gas emissions and more than 90% of biodiversity loss and water stress come from resource extraction and processing, the European Green Deal launched a concerted strategy for a climate-neutral, resource-efficient and competitive economy. Scaling up the circular economy from front-runners to the mainstream economic players will make a decisive contribution to achieving climate neutrality by 2050 and decoupling economic growth from resource use. Read more about the EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan.

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ICL IP’s Circular Economy Forum

ICL-IP has created an internal Circular Economy Forum to exchange information and ideas regarding potential recycling projects and dialogue with customers. Representatives from ICL’s companies in Asia, Europe, Israel, and the US have partnered together to map circular economy opportunities both within and outside of ICL.

Joining the CR3 - Center for Resource Recovery and Recycling

As ICL expands its efforts on the circular economy, it is looking for advantageous partnerships to propel it forward. As a result, the Company has joined the Center for Resource Recovery and Recycling, CR3.

 CR3 is committed to becoming a cooperative research center focused on the sustainable stewardship of the earth’s resources. Its focus is to help industries create a sustainable future. CR3 helps advance technologies that recover, recycle and reuse materials throughout the manufacturing process. This creates opportunities to reduce energy costs and increase profitability, while protecting natural resources.

Closing The Loop - An EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy

JOHA® SF Line - The New Generation of Emulsifying Salts

ICL Food Specialties has introduced the newest generation of JOHA® emulsifying salts, the JOHA® SF line, used to optimize protein content in processed cheese and deliver superior benefits.

ICL’s innovative emulsifying salts, which were nominated as a finalist for the Food Tech Innovation Awards, were developed to reduce additional ingredients typically needed for traditionally processed snacking cheeses.  JOHA salts offer an increased firmness compared to standard emulsifying salts.  As a result, developers can create competitive cheese products at optimal costs. The SF line is ideal for spreadable, snackable, and aluminum foil packed processed cheese applications, as well as analog and UHT treated cheese applications.

Circular Economy: Biological Cycle

Fibagro Advance - A Peat Alternative

Fibagro Advance is a new Woodfibre substrate. It’s designed for peat-free or peat-reduced growing media. It is sustainably sourced, manufactured in the UK, and has been trialed specifically for quality and performance. The substrate has medium-low to medium density and is available with full ICL nutrition and wetting agent packages. It has been thermo-mechanically processed to ensure consistency.

One of the key characteristics of Fibagro Advance is its air-filled porosity, which facilitates good rooting, drainage, and ease of irrigation management. The substrate also has a high water-holding capacity, which ensures that plants have access to the moisture they need. In addition, Fibagro Advance has a high CEC, which means that it can retain nutrients and release them slowly to plants over time.

Fibagro Advance has been developed to overcome typical woodfiber challenges, such as slumping, water retention, nitrogen drawdown, and buffering capacity. ICL has tackled these challenges through its unique thermo-mechanical process, which produces ‘split end’ fibers that create a unique matrix when blended with raw materials such as peat, coir, and bark. The substrate has a good balance between AFP and WHC, which helps to reduce slumping and facilitate good rooting.

Read more about growing media in agriculture

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Secondary Source Phosphate

Our Phosphate Solution segment is integrating new technologies to use secondary source phosphate as an alternative to virgin raw materials. There are immediate uses in our production facilities in Europe, and we are developing future resources for our fertilizer products, including a technology roadmap for recycling and recovery of phosphorus and nitrogen from secondary sources.

MagiK 

A fertilization product developed from a by-product stream of our magnesium production process. 

Closing the Cycle

ICL’s latest circular economy innovation is Pearl® Technology; recycled phosphorus that helps close the phosphorus cycle, reduce losses to the aquatic environment, and preserve the primary and finite resources of rock phosphate to produce conventional fertilizers. Pearl® is sustainably recovered from high concentrations of phosphorus in water streams sourced from municipalities, and industries such as mining, food processing and livestock. The recovery process utilizes a unique process which allows recovery of a pure struvite granule. Struvite has proven to be an asset in plant health and growth and is incorporated in ICL’s premium CRF range for turf, Sierrablen Plus.

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Circular Economy: Technical Cycle

PS LOOP

ICL is one of the co-founders of the PolyStyrene Loop (PSL) recycling project, in the Netherlands. The PolyStyreneLoop Cooperative is a non-profit organization under Dutch law. Members of the foundation are industry representatives from the whole polystyrene foam value chain: PS foam manufacturers, raw material and additives suppliers, foam converters, and recyclers.

PolyStyreneLoop contributes to the Circular Economy by recycling polystyrene (PS) foam demolition waste containing the legislated flame retardant hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD). The Solvent-based Purification (SBP) process developed by CreaCycle GmbH and Fraunhofer IVV separates HBCD from the PS allowing the recycling of PS to be used for new insulation materials. The bromine in the HBCD is recovered by the Bromine Recovery Unit (BRU) of ICL after safe destruction of HBCD. The bromine is re-used to produce new polymeric flame retardants to be applied in insulation products made from the Loop-PS.

Read more about the PS Loop.

Using salt as potential infrastructure

At ICL Dead Sea, we have used salt in the rehabilitation of an abandoned site and the construction of an observatory for use by the public. In addition, we are testing the use of salt as replacement for sand and rocks in various infrastructure projects.

Investigating new markets for Fluosilicic Acid

FSA is a source of fluorine and silica. It offers a fluorine-rich alternative to fluorspar or to fluorine-based chemicals. ICL Rotem is investigating various possible markets in order to expand its use in the fluorine, metal and construction industries and at the development of new FSA applications for concrete, wood preservation, scaling removal and more.

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New uses for Phosphogypsum

As part of YPH’s circular economy efforts, the company developed a variety of different uses for phosphogypsum. One such solution integrates phosphogypsum into road pavements. As part of circular economy efforts in China, the Company developed a variety of different uses for Phosphogypsum, which is its only by-product that has not yet been fully utilized. In addition to the existing solutions that were already developed and implemented, the Company developed, together with local authorities, a solution for old mine reclamation. During 2022, a pilot project was initiated, and utilized more than 4 million cubic meters of phosphogypsum successfully.

Reuse of by-products throughout the phosphoric acid purification cycle 

At the phosphoric acid purification plant in Cajati, Brazil, 100% of the co-products generated in the pre-treatment (phosphate residue) and in the phosphoric acid extraction unit (raffinate) are transformed into by-product for production of phosphate fertilizers -18% of P2O5. In addition to reusing co-products, all industrial wastewater generated at the unit is treated and goes through a filtering process to remove solids, recovering P2O5 and transforming it into by-product to complement the production of phosphate fertilizers. Furthermore, in the treatment of effluents at the Cajati unit, approximately 20% of the treated wastewater are reused in the process to reduce raw water consumption.

With the reuse of by-products throughout the phosphoric acid purification cycle, we add value to what would be waste generated in the acid purification processes and eliminate losses to the environment, strengthening our circular economy in the phosphate chain.

Dual Use and a Double Win

The Fibrisol Australia Sustainability Initiative to reduce the disposal of materials has created a new opportunity. Salt from dry cleaning blenders is sent for reuse by the local leather industry for cleaning its own production lines. This circular economy initiative reduces the disposal of materials and allows industrial symbiosis with other industries to use more sustainable sources for their materials.

Resource Efficiency

In Israel, facilities under the Industrial Products division are involved in circular economy initiatives regarding energy circularity. At its plant in Neot Hovav, ICL is buying byproduct steam from an external power station located nearby. In ICL’s plant in Sdom, hydrogen that is emitted as a byproduct is now used as fuel in an emissions reduction facility.

From Byproduct To Excellent Solution

The production of a certain product in ICL’s Gallipolis Ferry site produces a significant amount of a certain byproduct. The GF team, together with R&D, tested it for road pavement application in which it performed exceptionally well and passed all performance grade testing. ICL is now planning to launch it as a new product- an antistrip additive for paving and road applications.