ILiA’s landmark “Determining the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) of Lithium Products” (the Guidance) was published in March 2024 as the first globally standardised way to measure the carbon dioxide generated during the production of the lithium that is used in electric vehicles (EVs) and other applications.
Addressing this was an urgent challenge for the industry, not only because of the rapid growth of lithium production, but also because of the demands from regulators and the automotive industry to report the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of all the raw materials used in the batteries of EVs (see Lithium Voice #5).
The Guidance was published after extensive consultation with a wide range of stakeholders and it allows practitioners to create a PCF assessment for key lithium intermediates and battery-grade lithium carbonate and hydroxide specialty chemicals produced from brine or rock minerals in a standardized way as part of their PCF, whether it is stand-alone or part of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).
The Guidance is well received
Over the last 14 months it has been well received by industry and regulators alike. The Guidance has even formed the foundations of two proposals for new ISO standards. This positive reception was testament to all the hard work which went into making it.
Mark de Boer , Chair of the Sustainable Lithium Subcommittee and Vice President Sustainability at Albemarle Corporation, said, “It is great to see such a large interest in applying the Guidance. Not only by ILiA members, as we had hoped for, but also by non-ILiA members too.”
In recent months ILiA has been approached by several leading lithium facilities which reported using the Guidance to determine the PCF of their lithium products. This raised the question of how to differentiate Guidance-compliant PCFs and prevent someone falsely claiming compliance.
It was decided that to recognise a PCF (or LCA) which has been created in compliance with the Guidance ILiA will award a unique, non-transferable, numbered ILiA PCF Stamp (“Stamp”) that states “In line with ILiA PCF Guidance of Lithium Products”.
The Stamps have been welcomed by the industry, but as a consequence, also raised the demand for ILiA developing a verification procedure to confirm that the Guidance has been adhered to, prior to awarding a Stamp for a PCF.
The challenge of verification
This challenge was taken up by ILiA’s Sustainable Lithium Subcommittee (SLS). The task was to create a verification mechanism that was transparent, consistent and efficient. It needed to be rigorous, but not unnecessarily complex since a high cost could discourage use of the Stamp. The end goal was to allow all PCFs that are awarded a Stamp to be meaningfully comparable, regardless of when, where and by whom they are created.
Verification in practice
To assure the correct application of the Guidance, the SLS decided that prior to ILiA awarding a Stamp to a PCF, an independent review of that PCF would be required. However, since ILiA was not well-placed to do this in-house, so the SLS developed criteria for approved independent experts. Using third parties had the additional benefit of preventing ILiA from seeing confidential PCF data, which is a perennial concern for an association.
The team initially developed a set of competence criteria for independent verifiers based on the guidelines of the International Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) System but tailored them to meet the specificities of the lithium industry.
The competence criteria for an independent verifier are listed on ILiA’s website, www.lithium.org, and include:
- Performing at least 10 PCFs/LCAs within the five years prior to the application.
- Having a thorough knowledge of the ISO Standards for LCA 14040, 14044 and 14049.
- Demonstrating knowledge of PCFs/LCAs for metals and mining products.
- Having high proficiency in English or Spanish or Chinese.
Individuals who fulfil the criteria can become an ILiA-approved verifier, empowered to verify lithium PCFs for compliance with the Guidance. A list of approved verifiers is available at www.lithium.org and if you are interested in applying to become a verifier please contact the Association.
Verification starts!
In May 2025 the initial approved independent verifiers are:
- Lorraine Amponsah, PhD (Loram Consulting)
- Sophie Myers (Minviro)
- Rob Rouwette (start2see)
- Joris Šimaitis, PhD (Minviro)
- Sebastien Taillemite (Ecovamed)
- Phoebe Whattoff (Minviro)
The list of verifiers is maintained by ILiA’s Sustainable Lithium Subcommittee and once a verifier has been approved their status will be valid for three years, after which they will be considered for renewal.
Verifying a PCF
An organisation requesting the PCF and/or LCA for one of its operations to be verified as compliant with the Guidance can contact any approved verifier directly and contract them to undertake an independent review. The agreement will be between the approved verifier and the contracting organisation, not ILiA, and the cost of verification will be covered by the organisation in full.
Once the approved verifier has checked the PCF for compliance with the Guidance, and assuming it does comply, the verifier will submit a brief summary to ILiA and the contracting organization can request a unique Stamp to be awarded to the confirmed PCF.
Each Stamp is numbered and is only applicable to a specific PCF.
Stamps are not transferable to another company, facility or PCF, which means that a large organisation with multiple PCFs for its various facilities will need to have each PCF verified in turn and will be awarded a unique Stamp for each one.
The record of Stamps
ILiA’s website carries a record of every Stamp which is awarded, so that third parties can check if a PCF which claims to be verified, really is.
The record shows:
- the company that owns the facility that was analysed by the verified PCF/LCA (and the group to which that company belongs)
- the location of that facility
- the date of the independently verified PCF/LCA
- the verifier name and company
- the date of the verification
ILiA aims to publish this information within six months of a Stamp being issued to provide a clear record to the public and to prevent false claims or the use of invalid Stamps.
Organisations may decide to provide further information about their PCF, but this is on a voluntary basis.
The first Stamps are awarded
At time of print, four PCFs have already been confirmed and awarded ILiA Stamps:
- Stamp 1.0 – Tesla: Battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate at its lithium refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, USA.
- Stamp 2.0 – Talison Lithium Pty Ltd: Spodumene concentrate from the Greenbushes mine in Western Australia, Australia.
- Stamp 3.0 – Albemarle Corporation: Lithium hydroxide monohydrate 99.5% production at its Xinyu plant, China.
- Stamp 4.0 – Albemarle Corporation: Lithium hydroxide monohydrate 99.5% production at its Qinzhou plant, China.
On receiving Stamp 2.0, Rob Telford, Chief Executive Officer, Talison Lithium, said “Talison Greenbushes Operation is very proud to be the first mine site in the world, and the first lithium operation in Australia, to receive the ILiA Stamp. Completion of a life cycle assessment in line with the ILiA PCF Guidance means we have a solid, credible and independently verified baseline from which to understand our impacts and opportunities to improve as we expand our operations for a cleaner energy future.”
Astrid Karamira, ILiA’s Sustainability & Governance Manager said “With the accreditation process having started, we expect many more organisations to undertake their LCAs and PCFs in accordance with the ILiA Guidance”.
If you are currently performing an LCA or PCF for any of your lithium operations and would like confirmation that it is compliant with the Guidance, or if you have any related questions please email ILiA at ILiA@lithium.org
We look forward to seeing more lithium facilities’ PCFs to be certified against the ILiA Guidance and to issuing many more Stamps in the future.
Thanks to the ILiA’s Sustainable Lithium Subcommittee (SLS)
