Novelis published its fiscal year 2016 sustainability report, detailing significant progress toward increasing the use of recycled aluminum and minimizing the use of natural resources.
Recycling aluminum produces 95 percent fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and requires 95 percent less energy than primary aluminum production, enabling Novelis to achieve lower GHG emissions despite increasing global production capacity. At the end of fiscal 2016, Novelis achieved an average of 53 percent recycled aluminum inputs, up 23 percentage points from the baseline averages of fiscal years 2007 to 2009. Novelis also reduced its GHG emissions by 19 percent for the same baseline years.
Significant gains were also made in fiscal 2016 as it relates to water and energy intensity. Novelis achieved a 22 percent reduction in water intensity and a 24 percent reduction in energy intensity for the 2007 to 2009 baseline.
Other important achievements from fiscal 2016 include:
•Reduced water intensity by one-third at Novelis’ plant in Terre Haute, Indiana that helped the company reach a 22 percent reduction in water intensity globally.
•Decreased energy intensity by 24 percent by increasing manufacturing efficiencies worldwide.
•Commissioned the third automotive finishing line at Novelis’ plant in Oswego, New York to supply lightweight automotive aluminum for the 2017 Ford F-Series Super Duty line of trucks, representing the second-highest volume aluminum application in automotive to date. Supply for the truck also involves a highly innovative closed-looped recycling system that allows Novelis to take back as much of its customer’s aluminum scrap as possible, turning it directly back into the same product again.
•Introduced Novelis Advanz™ s5754 RC, a high-recycled content alloy designed for automobiles to contain up to 75 percent recycled content. First implemented in the Jaguar XE, Advanz s5754 RC is now featured in all new and legacy Jaguar Land Rover models.
•Set records for safety performance, achieving a 3 year low in total recordable incidents as well as improving the number of days away from work rate by more than 25 percent year over year.
Novelis continued to make significant progress in multiple areas at its 24 production and recycling facilities on four continents, including reducing GHG emissions, energy and water intensity from their baseline averages in fiscal years 2007 to 2009.
Published in the January 2017 Edition of American Recycler News
