Better Health for All
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Albemarle's core products demonstrate a strong positive health impact, providing essential elements for medical devices like pacemakers and insulin pumps, enabling medical oxygen production, and contributing to medical imaging.
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Its chemical solutions are crucial for life-saving medications, including antiviral, anti-diabetes, oncology, and cardiovascular drugs, and are used in vitamin synthesis.
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The company also provides nutrient additives for crops, antimicrobials for food safety, and clean water solutions, bolstering global food security.
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Regarding risk transparency, Albemarle proactively engages in disclosures. It commenced a voluntary Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for its Kings Mountain mine, planning to publish findings and allow stakeholders 60 days for review.
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In response to a foul odor from the mine in December 2024, the company installed air monitors and publicly disclosed data in January 2025, confirming hydrogen sulfide levels were below health risk thresholds.
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However, the company has incurred penalties for health-related externalities, including over $1 million for environmental violations across 28 records and $72,115 for air pollution violations across 6 records since 2000.
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Despite these, Albemarle is undertaking substantial mitigation efforts, such as aligning with the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) Standard to reduce adverse impacts and participating in the "Resilient Together" initiative to address climate change impacts on community health.
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During public health emergencies, Albemarle's medical oxygen solutions were proven effective in addressing respiratory issues during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The Albemarle Foundation also donated $250,000 to hurricane relief efforts in 2024.
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Fair Money & Economic Opportunity
0
Albemarle Corporation is a specialty chemicals company and does not offer lending, insurance, or deposit services to consumers. Consequently, KPIs related to consumer financial products, their pricing, associated fees, customer debt burden, data accessibility, and fair lending compliance are not applicable to its core business operations, resulting in a score of 0 for these categories. For inclusion_initiatives, while Albemarle has a Supplier Diversity Program
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and contributes 3.5% of its Chilean sales annually to the Consejo de Pueblos Atacameños for investment initiatives,
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these do not constitute a "loan/insurance book" as defined by the KPI, leading to a score of 0. Regarding profit_reinvestment, the company contributes 3.5% of its Chilean sales to Indigenous communities
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and has made significant donations, including over $2.5 million to Kings Mountain communities since 2016
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and a $1 million donation to Cleveland Community College in 2024.
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However, the rubric specifically requires a percentage of *annual pre-tax profit* reinvested in *community finance or profit-sharing*, which is not provided in the evidence, leading to omission. For financial_literacy_initiatives, Albemarle co-hosted a children's financial literacy workshop in 2023
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and facilitated over 20 educational sessions.
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However, the evidence lacks quantitative data on the *reach* or *outcomes* of these programs, which are necessary for scoring, leading to omission. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violation in 2023
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is related to general corruption and falls outside the scope of "Fair Money & Economic Opportunity" as defined.
Fair Pay & Worker Respect
30
In 2024, 20% of Albemarle's employees were covered by collective bargaining agreements.
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The company's Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) for employees was 0.13 in 2024, though one employee fatality occurred in the same year.
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The employee engagement score was 78% in 2024.
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Voluntary employee turnover was 5% in 2023.
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Albemarle's policy, effective November 2, 2020, states it strives to provide remuneration ensuring an adequate living standard, respects freedom of association, and prohibits forced and child labor, complying with various ILO conventions.
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In February 2024, 13 workers at the Kemerton refinery sought medical treatment after chemical exposure, and in June 2022, six workers at the same refinery were exposed to potentially acidic dust.
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The company reported 187 Integrity Helpline matters warranted investigation in 2024, with 54% substantiated.
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Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing
0
No specific quantitative evidence was found in the provided articles to assess the company against the defined Key Performance Indicators for Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing. While policies and programs related to ethical sourcing, supplier codes of conduct, and supplier diversity are mentioned, concrete metrics such as the percentage of fair-trade certified spend, average audit frequency for suppliers, number of substantiated forced or child labor incidents, percentage of traceable suppliers, median remediation speed, percentage of procurement budget directed to diverse suppliers, or a materials risk index were not provided.
Honest & Fair Business
20
Albemarle paid a total of $218.5 million in aggregate fines, disgorgement, and prejudgment interest in September 2023 to resolve self-reported Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the SEC.
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These violations, occurring between 2009 and 2017, involved bribery through third-party sales agents in Vietnam, Indonesia, and India, yielding approximately $98.5 million in profits.
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The company's voluntary disclosure was not considered "reasonably prompt."
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Following these violations, Albemarle overhauled its compliance program, eliminating third-party sales agents and adopting a direct sales model.
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The company enhanced internal accounting controls, hired dedicated compliance staff, and revamped anti-corruption policies.
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Its Anti-Corruption Policy provides guidance on bribery, sets a $150 threshold for gifts/hospitality, and requires risk-based due diligence for certain suppliers and pre-approval for those affiliated with government officials or former government officials within two years.
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In 2024, 100% of governance body members and applicable employees completed anti-corruption training, and 13 operations were assessed for corruption risks.
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The DOJ ended a non-prosecution agreement early in April 2025, and Albemarle was named Compliance Program of the Year in 2024.
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Albemarle operates an Integrity Helpline, managed by an independent company, available 24/7 in multiple languages, allowing confidential and anonymous reporting with a unique PIN for follow-up.
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The company has a retaliation policy, investigating all allegations of retaliation.
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In 2024, 187 Integrity Helpline matters warranted investigation, with 54% substantiated.
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Albemarle received an EcoVadis Gold Medal for sustainability, placing it in the top 5% of all companies assessed, and achieved an IRMA 50 level of performance at its Salar de Atacama lithium site, with the audit report publicly available.
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The company references GRI, SASB, and TCFD standards, and is a signatory to the UNGC CEO Water Mandate.
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Third-party verification was achieved for Product Carbon Footprints for specific products and facilities, and operations in Chile were certified under ISO 50001.
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The IRMA audit corroborated that the company met 70% of over 400 rigorous IRMA requirements at the Salar de Atacama site.
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The 2024 Sustainability Report states that "Relevant restatements are footnoted."
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Kind to Animals
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Albemarle has an internal Animal Testing Policy that governs its testing procedures and is revised periodically.
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This policy states that the company uses computer modeling for product testing wherever possible to avoid animal testing, even when legally permitted.
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No War, No Weapons
10
Albemarle operates in alignment with the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
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The company adheres to high humanitarian procurement standards, managing supply chain risks associated with modern slavery and sourcing from conflict-affected and high-risk areas in alignment with OECD Guidance
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and requiring suppliers to complete the RMI Conflict Minerals Reporting Template.
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While Albemarle received a $90 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to expand lithium production,
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and its products are essential for national defense,
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there is no evidence of revenue derived from direct arms or defense contracts.
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Planet-Friendly Business
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Albemarle's total Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions in 2024 were 3,353 kt CO2e.
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In 2024, 24% of the company's total electricity consumption was sourced from renewable resources.
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The company recorded 2 environmental compliance violations in 2025 (water and air pollution), 1 in 2024, and 2 in 2023 (air pollution).
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Albemarle's 2024 Sustainability Report was developed with reference to the TCFD, and the company discloses its water management actions through its TCFD Report.
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For larger capital projects (over $25 million), Albemarle analyzes the sensitivity of project economics by varying the carbon price between zero and $200/mt.
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In 2024, 18.9% of freshwater consumed was sourced from countries with high or extremely high baseline water stress.
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Respect for Cultures & Communities
10
Albemarle commits 3.5% of its annual sales or revenue to local groups, including the Council of Atacameño Peoples.
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No cultural appropriation incidents are reported. The company achieved an IRMA 50 rating at its Salar de Atacama site, fulfilling 70% of requirements for human rights and community engagement, which includes collaboration with local communities.
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Furthermore, a voluntary Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) was introduced for the Kings Mountain Mine project plan.
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Safe & Smart Tech
10
Albemarle Corporation demonstrates strong regulatory compliance, having received recognition from the Department of Justice for its data analytics used in compliance efforts
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. The company implements a comprehensive cybersecurity program aligned with the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework (NIST CSF)
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. This program includes integrating cybersecurity into its enterprise risk management framework
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, engaging third-party firms for annual cyber assessments
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, and performing periodic penetration tests to validate security controls
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. Furthermore, Albemarle provides mandatory annual security training for all staff and new hires
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, complemented by regular phishing tests designed to enhance awareness and improve response actions
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Zero Waste & Sustainable Products
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Albemarle achieved an overall waste diversion rate of 58.37% in 2024, with 60% of non-hazardous waste and 5% of hazardous waste being recycled.
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Despite the company's stated aim to minimize hazardous waste, its generation increased from 9 kilotons in 2022 to 32 kilotons in 2024, and the hazardous waste recycling rate decreased from 13% to 5% over the same period.
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The company aims to enable a circular economy through recycling initiatives and partnerships, managing co-products like bischofite for dust suppression (saving 51 billion liters of water and preventing over 6,000 tons of airborne particulate matter in 2024)
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and reusing chemical tailings in cement or diverting them for aggregate production.
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Other waste reduction initiatives include an agreement to transfer non-ore-bearing material for construction aggregate
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and the introduction of MercLok™ technology, which reduces mercury leachability by over 99%.
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Albemarle has not reported any waste disposal violations.
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The company also uses supplier environmental performance metrics as criteria in raw material procurement
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and provides guidance on best practices.
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