Look through Glencore’s (GLEN) stonking 2022 results and listen to the presentation made by management about the record profits and it’s clear what the company has fixed on as its next narrative: we are also a top recycling firm, we just happen to also mine and trade metals and coal at very significant levels.
This doesn’t mean chief executive Gary Nagle and co will be collecting your empty cans, but they do want your old electric vehicle (EV) parts.
Nagle mentioned recycling seven times during the results call, only bringing up key industrial metal nickel three times. He said the company had “continued to evolve” since Ivan Glasenberg left almost two years ago, using recycling as the example – “we continue to invest in our recycle business, which we believe is critical”.