The Sustainability Consortium Partners with Purdue University on Sustainable Metals Research


ARIZONA, USA, – February 11, 2013
– The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) is proud to announce a new partnership with Purdue University. The focus of both organizations will be on the processing of metal ores after they have been extracted.

Purdue researchers will provide information about the environmental and social impacts of metals processing as it relates to the manufacturing of consumer products. The information will be used to identify potential impacts, such as energy consumption and pollutants generated, in the processing of specific metals.

The University of Arizona will join the project and will work with TSC and Purdue to research metals extraction (mining). The metals extraction and processing research will be applied to TSC’s Sustainability Measurement and Reporting System upon completion. The information will then be applied to a variety of consumer product categories that include metals.

“We are very excited to have Purdue as a new partner and will work closely with them and the University of Arizona to research the most sustainable ways that metals are extracted and processed,” said Mary Wilkosz, Working Group Director at The Consortium. “At The Consortium we believe in scientific research to develop a credible, transparent, and scalable measurement system that companies can use to make them more sustainable and in the end, be the change makers they want to be in the world through their business.”

Dr. Fu Zhao, an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Environmental and Ecological Engineering, and Dr. John W. Sutherland Professor and Fehsenfeld Family Head of the Department of Environmental and Ecological Engineering at Purdue will lead Purdue’s research team and provide comprehensive data for TSC and future projects to come.

About The Sustainability Consortium
TSC is an organization of diverse global participants that work collaboratively to build a scientific foundation that drives innovation to improve consumer product sustainability. TSC develops transparent methodologies, tools, and strategies to drive a new generation of products and supply networks that address environmental, social, and economic imperatives. The Sustainability Consortium advocates for a credible, scalable, and transparent process and system. The organization boasts over 90 members from all corners of business employing over 57 million people and whose combined revenues total over $1.5 Trillion. The Sustainability Consortium is jointly administered by Arizona State University and University of Arkansas with additional operations at Wageningen University in The Netherlands and has recently launched an office in China. Learn more at www.sustainabilityconsortium.org

About Purdue University
Purdue University is a public doctoral-granting institution founded in 1869. The university has a system-wide enrollment of more than 69,000 students from 50 states and 130 countries. Twenty-two Purdue alumni have been chosen for space flight, including Neil A. Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, and Eugene A. Cernan, the last man to do so.

Media Contact:
Elizabeth Kessler, Marketing Coordinator
The Sustainability Consortium
Arizona State University
Elizabeth.Kessler.1@asu.edu | 480.965.3810