‘Zinc is indispensable in the world’

We may not always see it, but zinc is everywhere. Very small, in everyday objects, but also very big, in energy sustainability and energy transition. The metal even helped keep the European economy running during the COVID-19 crisis, says Ling Tao. For 23 years she has been closely monitoring the zinc market for Nyrstar.

Belgian inventor and industrialist Jean-Jacques Dony could never have imagined the impact his discovery would have on the world hundreds of years later. During Napoleon’s day he discovered a process for the industrial production of pure zinc.

This partly explains why the zinc industry still plays an important economic and social role in our region. Today, zinc is produced in Balen and Pelt under the Nyrstar flag, but the zinc factories there have been operating for over 130 years.

‘Zinc is indispensable in the world’, says Ling Tao, manager of global products technical & market development at Nyrstar. She is the liaison between the zinc market and zinc production. She also tells customers how to use zinc correctly, safely and sustainably.

Immune system

‘Zinc is really everywhere. Even the human body needs zinc. It’s essential for our biological functions. Zinc ensures the construction of proteins, tissue renewal, correct

metabolism and it enables our defence and immune system to work optimally.’

The latter is certainly crucial. Unicef estimated that 450,000 children under the age of five die every year due to zinc deficiency. Not surprisingly, pharmaceutical companies and nutritional supplement manufacturers are among Nyrstar's zinc-using clients. The agricultural sector is also a customer. For farmers, zinc is an important ingredient in certain fertilizers.

‘Zinc also plays an important role in anti-corrosion and sustainability: 60 percent of refined zinc is used to protect steel against corrosion. Steel that is used in buildings, for guardrails and bridges, but also for electric wind turbines and the structures of solar panels: everything contains zinc,’ says Ling Tao.

European industry

Technology companies also use zinc. Including for the production of electrical and electronic applications like switches, chips, printed circuit board components and

cables. And zinc also proved important during the COVID-19 crisis to guarantee continuity for companies and the economy.

‘In recent months, zinc has contributed to European industry being able to continue producing. Very often we are talking about everyday products.’ Because without knowing it, we are constantly coming into contact with zinc from morning to night. It is the world’s most commonly used metal, after steel, aluminium and copper.

100 percent green energy

Nyrstar's production has not stopped or reduced at any time after the first lockdown. ‘Our world cannot exist without it,’ Ling Tao concludes. ‘For almost a century and a half, we have made it a point of honour to produce the best zinc in the most sustainable way possible.’

Nyrstar itself attaches great importance to renewable energy. Zinc smelting requires a lot of electricity. Nyrstar uses as much green energy as possible for this.

‘That is better for the environment and stabilizes the electricity grid,’ says Ling Tao. ‘At our site in Budel in the Netherlands, we have been purchasing 100 percent green electricity since January 2021. The site's greenhouse gas emissions have since fallen by 97 percent.’