2030 RISE Strategy

Driven by megatrends

Umicore has a history of successfully anticipating global societal trends that define the next decades and embracing these megatrends as business drivers.

Three powerful megatrends will continue to underpin our strategy and drive our businesses well into the future.

Mobility transformation – Mobility as we know it is set to change dramatically over the next few years. As we shift gear towards cleaner, carbon-neutral transport, emission legislations will become more stringent and with it will come an exponential growth in electrification. Accelerating this mobility transformation will be profound for both business and society. Discover more on our solutions in Three Complementary Business Groups.

Circularity for critical metals – Our future economy will be more circular with even greater emphasis on sharing, leasing, reusing or recycling existing materials. Across all our markets, recycling will be a major source of materials for our clients. This trend, whilst more visible in both Precious Metals Refining and Battery Recycling Solutions, is embedded in all our activities.

Increased demand for advanced materials – The demand for more scalable, more efficient and more sustainable solutions brought faster to market and ready to tackle the big societal challenges will continue to increase. All our businesses already contribute to meeting global demand. Please also see Three Complementary Business Groups for more details on our solutions.

Through our global footprint, state-of-the art technologies, unique closed-loop business model and market positioning, Umicore is well placed to adopt all three megatrends as drivers of our future growth.

Our strategy: rooted in strong foundations

The successful Horizon 2020 Strategy drove a step-change transformation of the Umicore Group. Between 2015 and 2020, Umicore established its lead in clean mobility materials and recycling. We rebalanced our portfolio of activities and doubled the size of the business in terms of earnings, while delivering substantial shareholder returns.

Hot on the heels of this success, Umicore unveiled, in June 2021, its sustainability ambitions “Let's Go for Zero”. These ambitions cover our goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035 and reaffirmed Umicore’s commitment to use its technological know-how, scientific expertise and corporate reach to be an industry leader in sustainability. It has also been defined as a “caring strategy”: caring about talent, about health, about safety, about the planet and about creating value both for society and our stakeholders.

Our Horizon 2020 strategy and Let’s go for Zero sustainability ambitions together have turned sustainability into a clear competitive advantage and pushed industry standards to the next level, while enabling us to achieve record results in 2021.

Now it’s time to embark on the next chapter of our journey.

Umicore’s proven ability to embrace megatrends, its strong market positions, technology leadership and organizational excellence are the solid foundations on which to build our onward journey to 2030, making us fit and ready for the future.

Ready to RISE

Umicore has now pledged to rise higher and reach even further than the achievements of the past to create a bold, sustainable company of the future.

Launched in June 2022, Umicore’s 2030 RISE Strategy provides the much-needed continuity in our strategic journey, while building on the leadership in clean mobility and recycling achieved under the Horizon 2020 Strategy.

This new strategic plan is designed to accelerate sustainable and profitable growth with value creation to 2030 and beyond; while being a net beneficiary of the changing world, particularly with regards to mobility transformation.

With the 2030 RISE strategy we will continue to build Umicore to be the circular materials technology company, extending the closed-loop business model throughout the organization. Our ambition is to be a transformation partner for our customers, supporting them in becoming more sustainable and – particularly in the automotive industry – making the successful transition to carbon-free mobility in the next decades.

Between now and 2030, we will scale up our global operations, resulting in a projected doubling of revenues for the Umicore Group towards 2030, with adjusted EBITA margins of more than 20% and ROCE returns of 15%.

Between now and 2030, Umicore will grow like a start-up while continuing to create value as the long-established company it already is.

Four pillars for success

Our 2030 RISE Strategy comprises four distinct pillars on which the implementation and scaling up of the business will be built. It is no coincidence that we have chosen the word “RISE” as each letter refers to one pillar of the strategy. Each pillar plays a vital role in our strategic success going forward.

The “R” stands for “Reliability” and the reliable transformation partner that we already are for many customers and can become for many more. We listen to our stakeholders and focus on supporting them in their own transformation to become sustainable and circular companies. We will continue to build and maintain long-term relationships with our customers, suppliers and partners. More information here.

The “I” is for innovation and technology. Umicore is already an innovation and technology leader, pioneering in chemistry, material science and metallurgy. Our future success relies on us maintaining our technological advantage and value creation. To reach our 2030 ambitions, we are set on developing the next generation of clean mobility and advanced materials – and creating a safety net to protect the world’s resources, however scarce or abundant by applying our closed-loop model. More information here.

“S” is for sustainability champion. Sustainability is in our DNA and woven into the very fabric of our organization. At Umicore we see it as our mission to be an industry leader in sustainability. We embed sustainability in all our products and services, and in the way we manage our operations and people. Our ‘Let’s Go for Zero’ ambitions are at the heart of the next chapter of our journey pushing us to rise even higher than before. More information here.

The “E” in RISE denotes excellence in execution. With this “E” we are making a clear statement to our customers: We are there for you, we are ramping up our business to meet your needs, and we will deliver on our promises. Performance is key to achieve our growth trajectory. With the future scale of our organization and the speed at which the world around us is changing, we strive for excellence in everything we do. More information here.

Umicore’s 2030 RISE Strategy is ambitious. It is bold. But it is based on solid and well-established foundations; a successful business track record; driven by strong megatrends; and implemented by our excellent and highly skilled teams throughout the world.

Our journey towards 2030 has already begun.

For more information, please consult our contributions on Strategy and Rising up for impact in this report.