Leading global rolled aluminium products producer Novelis Inc states it has increased the recycled content of its worldwide aluminium production (more than 3 million tonnes) to 39% in the fiscal year to 31 March.
In its second annual sustainability report released at the end of August, the company – a wholly owned subsidiary of Asian metals giant Hindalco Industries – said that the figure put it nearly half-way to achieving the goal set in its 2011 sustainability report of achieving 80% recycled content globally by 2020.
Novelis says it recycles 40 billion used beverage cans annually and puts its production volumes at 17% of the world’s total aluminum rolled products, making it “number one in Europe, North America and South America, and number two in Asia”.
“A growing percentage of people today want to purchase products that lower their personal carbon footprint, and they expect the companies and technologies behind these products to operate in a sustainable manner,” says Phil Martens, Novelis president and CEO.
“By dramatically increasing the amount of recycled content in our aluminium sheet and applying innovation to our product development, we enable consumers to make sensible, environmentally sustainable purchasing choices.”
Other highlights of the Novelis sustainability report include a “19% reduction in energy intensity” and “11% reduction in water intensity”, half-way to the company’s 2020 goals of 39% and 25% respectively.
A 7% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is said to represent “significant progress” towards reaching the company’s total goal of halving its absolute GHGs, and there has also been an “18% improvement” towards the Novelis goal of reducing waste to landfill to zero.
The Novelis report received an ‘A’ rating from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework for sustainability reporting.
The company says a critical component of the its sustainability commitment is the newly-created Novelis Sustainability Council, which brings knowledge and experience in corporate sustainability from members including Matt Arnold, head of environmental affairs at JP Morgan Chase, and former executive vice president of DuPont, Jeffrey Keefer.
