May 14 2009
Novelis Inc. announced today that its North American organization has established its greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goal with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Climate Leaders program. Novelis has committed to a voluntary 5 percent reduction in GHG emissions over five years with 2007 as its baseline.
"As a part of our continued commitment to sustainable practices, Novelis is taking voluntary measures to conserve energy, reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and promote cooperation between industry and government," said Philip Martens, President and Chief Operating Officer.
Novelis, a global leader in aluminum rolled products and aluminum can recycling, has been a Climate Leaders Partner since 2006. Through this industry-government partnership, the company has developed an emissions inventory monitoring plan to measure and validate progress. Twelve Novelis facilities will participate in this program of which five have recycling operations. Novelis has seven participating facilities in the U.S. and five facilities located in Canada.
Novelis is committed to reducing its environmental footprint by optimizing raw material usage through process improvements, implementation of energy efficient technologies, promoting recycling and other energy conservation practices. In addition, Novelis is working to diminish the life-cycle environmental impact of its products by:
- Increasing the recycled content and end-of-life recycling rates for aluminum products. Recycling aluminum saves 95% of the energy required to produce primary aluminum, which means that up to 95% of related GHG emissions are avoided. Other natural resources such as water and bauxite are conserved as well.
- Creating products that take advantage of aluminum's weight savings potential. For example, every pound of aluminum replacing two pounds of iron or steel in an automobile can save up to 20 pounds of GHGs from being emitted over the typical lifetime of a vehicle.
Novelis has already made strides in reducing its carbon footprint. Since 2003, the company has reduced its GHG emissions by 6 percent in North America.
"Novelis believes that global climate change initiatives should be managed through involvement of industry, government and consumers considering the entire product life cycle," stated Martens. "The use of clean technologies, coupled with conservation efforts and recycling initiatives, are important elements of a GHG reduction program."