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With 48,000 employees in 38 countries, Alcan is a global leader in aluminum and
specialty packaging. Alcan has leading positions in raw materials, primary metals
and fabricated products, including products and systems for the automotive and mass
transportation markets, aluminum sheet for beverage cans, and flexible and specialty
packaging for the food, pharmaceutical and personal care industries worldwide. At
Alcan, our commitment to sustainability is consistent with our governing objective
of Maximizing Value and with our core values of integrity, accountability, trust
and transparency, and teamwork.
Highlights of Our Journey Towards Sustainability
- Selected as the top aluminum company and placed second overall among the 21 leading
metals and mining corporations worldwide and received the highest rating (AAA) from
Innovest Strategic Value Advisors in its 2001 Environmental Report.
- Chosen as the top-ranked aluminum company and recognized as one of the "Best of
the Best" automotive suppliers in Automotive Industries' prestigious Quest for Excellence
Awards in 2000. Alcan's expertise, technology and proprietary alloys allow customers
to both reduce vehicle weight and energy consumption without sacrificing performance
or safety. Alcan's strategic alliances with automotive producers in North America
and Europe consistently result in innovative and sustainable solutions.
- Won the coveted Climate Protection Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) in 2000 for voluntarily reducing GHG emissions at our Sebree, Kentucky
smelter by more than 60% over 1990 levels. In 1995, Alcan was among the charter
members of an aluminum industry group that joined with the EPA under the Voluntary
Aluminum Industrial Partnership (VAIP), which set a goal of reducing emissions from
aluminum smelting by 40 percent from 1990 levels by the year 2000.
- Active in numerous external forums with many stakeholders and organizations on
a wide range of issues, including the Global Mining Initiative (GMI) and the Mining,
Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD) Project, as well as a number of voluntary
programs to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including the Canadian Industry
Program for Energy Conservation (CIPEC), the Champions in Action initiative of the
Canadian Voluntary Challenge and Registry (VCR), and the above-mentioned US EPA's
VAIP.
- Reduced our annual CO2 emissions by more than 2 million tonnes from 1990 to 2000;
significantly reduced Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) as part of a 70% decrease
in hazardous air pollutant emissions at our Warren, Ohio plant; reduced total plant
SARA 313 toxic releases by 89% at our Berea, Kentucky plant; and reduced water consumption
by 93% at Oswego Works in New York.
- Announced our participation in 2002 in a framework agreement between the Aluminum
Association of Canada and the Quebec government to reduce as a group, on a voluntary
basis, GHGs from Quebec-based facilities by 200,000 tonnes by the end of 2007.
- Developed TARGET, a company-wide initiative that established an annual reduction
target of 500,000 tonnes of GHG emissions by 2004, an evolving objective that is
revised annually. With the implementation of TARGET, Alcan became a charter member
of the US EPA's Climate Leaders program, which focuses on developing long-term comprehensive
climate change strategies.
- Garnered numerous awards around the world in recent years for our effective H&S
management systems, including our plant in Aratu, Brazil, which received the World
Safety Award from the International Aluminium Institute (IAI), the Brazilian National
Award for Safety and Health Management promoted by the Brazilian Accident Prevention
Association (ABPA), and the ABS Award from the Brazilian Safety Agency.
- Respect for stakeholder concerns is deeply rooted in Alcan's culture. The company's
engagement efforts with stakeholders strive to develop a mutual understanding of
interests and goals, through continuing dialogue and extensive engagement processes.
In Northern British Columbia, Alcan is in its fifth year of participation in a formal
consultative forum, the Nechako Watershed Council (NWC), set up to discuss issues
related to the environmental, economic and social well-being of the Nechako Watershed
and act as advisor to the Nechako Environmental Enhancement Fund (NEEF). In 1999,
after extensive discussions, workshops and debates the NWC agreed that constructing
a water release facility at the Kenney Dam represents the best opportunity to enhance
the downstream environment, and in the process agreed the NWC served a broader objective
of multi-stakeholder interaction. Alcan and the other 24 groups, consisting of community,
business, First Nations and government, continue to meet regularly through the NWC
to discuss issues related to enhancing the long-term health and viability of the
Nechako Watershed including economic development, safety and recreation, fish, and
erosion.
- In the Saguenay-Lac St. Jean region of Quebec, Alcan's organized approach involves
stakeholder representation teams and regular community consultations, including
formalized stakeholder councils, such as "Neighbour Relations Committees", and involvement
in groups such as the Regional Council for the Environment, a federation of environmental
NGOs, and the Regional Development Council, a multi-stakeholder group.
- Awarded the 2002 World Summit Business Award for Sustainable Development Partnership
for the Alcan International Micro-business Network, a program that provides grade
school children the opportunity to develop entrepreneurial skills and environmental
ethics. Through the recovering and recycling of used materials, students create,
market, and sell a variety of novelty items and gifts throughout their respective
communities. Revenues generated are used to fund special school activities. The
program has grown to become an international network with 179 schools in five countries
involving over 30,000 children, our environmental leaders of the future.
- Active community involvement in Brazil, including Alcan's "Society of Tomorrow"
program, which involves 150 schools, 650 teachers and 20,000 school children in
environmental education and training, and Alcan participation in Project Smile,
providing over 4,000 children with free dental care and instruction in dental hygiene.
- Member of the Partnership for Climate Action, an alliance between a number of
global companies and the U.S. advocacy group Environmental Defense to champion market-based
mechanisms as a means of achieving early and credible action on reducing greenhouse
gas emissions in an efficient and cost-effective manner. As one of the partners,
Alcan has already set firm targets for greenhouse gas emissions reductions, and
has agreed to measure and publicly report its emissions.
- Reduced our source reductions of PAH emissions since 1983 by 76% through reduction
efforts in our horizontal stud Sderberg potrooms and the Sderberg replacement program.
More recently, in 2001, Alcan's research and development commitment resulted in
the introduction of a new low-tar pitch used in the smelting process that reduces
PAH emissions by an additional 47% in our Quebec, Canada Sderberg smelters. The
cumulative effect of these efforts since 1983 has resulted in a decrease of total
PAH reductions of 88% compared to earlier levels.
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Alcan B.C. is among the first major industrial operations in the province to develop
a Pollution Prevention (P2) Plan, and secure endorsement for it from both a local
Public Advisory Committee and the provincial government. The basic goal of the P2
plan is to move beyond regulatory compliance through the reduction or elimination
of pollutants at source.
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