ATLANTA, Oct. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Novelis, the
world leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, today announced
significant progress in its commitment toward reducing its carbon
footprint and delivering on key measures of sustainable business
performance. The company published "Sustainability Through
Disruptive Innovation," the company's third annual sustainability
report, which details recent milestones including an increase in
the recycled content of its products from 33 percent to 43 percent
in the first two years since announcing its ambitious target to
achieve 80 percent recycled content by 2020. Novelis also
became the world's largest recycler of aluminum this year as it
continues to expand its recycling capacity around the world.
"Our intent when we established our sustainability targets two
years ago was to transcend the incremental approach by radically
transforming our company – and, in the process, lead the way in our
industry," said Phil Martens,
Novelis President and Chief Executive Officer. "This approach
is driving changes in the way we source inputs, structure our
supply chain, make capital investments, develop our products and
engage with our customers. We are still in the early stages of our
sustainability journey, with many hurdles yet to overcome, but our
efforts are already beginning to bear fruit. I am more
firmly convinced than ever that our commitment to sustainability
will be the key value driver for our company going forward."
Other highlights of the comprehensive report include the
following results versus baseline performance using the average of
fiscal years 2007–2009:
- A 19 percent reduction in energy intensity, more than halfway
to 39 percent goal
- A 16 percent reduction in water intensity, more than halfway to
25 percent goal
- A 14 percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions,
representing significant progress towards reaching its total goal
of halving absolute GHGs
"I have come to the firm conclusion that leaders at Novelis are
transformers who are willing and able to stake out a new direction
for their company — one that will disrupt current industry
structure and leapfrog toward a more sustainable world," said
Stuart Hart, S.C. Johnson Chair in Sustainable Global Enterprise,
Cornell University, and a member of the
Novelis Sustainability Council. "Novelis aims to reinvent the
entire industry to become more environmentally sustainable and
socially inclusive. If successful, this strategy could make
them the undisputed leader and most profitable player in the sector
for decades to come. This is the epitome of sustainable
enterprise."
In the last year, the company's sustainability strategy drove
the development of evercan™, the world's first independently
certified, high-recycled content aluminum beverage can sheet. The
product is a packaging breakthrough that delivers sustainability
benefits to customers and end consumers.
The company also continues to make significant progress in its
long-term recycling objectives and the path to 50 percent recycled
inputs by 2015 is clear. This progress is enabled by
investments of close to $500 million
to nearly double the company's recycling capacity by
mid-decade. Novelis began operations last year at a new
recycling facility in Yeongju, South
Korea, the largest fully integrated beverage can recycling
system in Asia, and broke ground
on a plant in Nachterstedt, Germany, which will be the largest aluminum
recycling facility in the world when complete in 2014.
Other important highlights from the past year include:
- Launched Novelis supplier code of conduct, to further the
company's responsible sourcing objectives
- Held inaugural Novelis Month of Service, a focused effort to
undertake employee volunteer efforts at locations around the
world
- Completed second progress report to the United Nations Global
Compact
- Introduced an updated employee code of conduct
This year's report was prepared according to the Global
Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines and checked at application
level A. GRI is the world's most widely used framework for
sustainability reporting.
For more information, visit the company's interactive
sustainability website and download the 2013 Novelis Sustainability
Report or summary document.
About Novelis
Novelis Inc. is the global leader in
aluminum rolled products and the world's largest recycler of
aluminum. The company operates in nine countries, has approximately
11,000 employees and reported revenue of $9.8 billion for its 2013 fiscal year. Novelis
supplies premium aluminum sheet and foil products to automotive,
transportation, packaging, construction, industrial and consumer
electronics markets throughout North
America, Europe,
Asia and South America. Novelis is a subsidiary of
Hindalco Industries Limited (BSE: HINDALCO), one of Asia's largest integrated producers of
aluminum and a leading copper producer. Hindalco is part of the
Aditya Birla Group, a multinational conglomerate based in
Mumbai, India. For more
information, visit www.novelis.com and follow us on Twitter at
twitter.com/Novelis.
SOURCE Novelis