ALCOA AND ALUMINUM … PART OF THE SOLUTION

Alcoa has taken a voluntary global leadership position on climate change and is working within our business and out in the community, to be part of the solution. Here’s how…

TAKING A STAND
Alcoa has taken an active public stand on climate change. We are a founding member of the Business Environment Leadership Council, United States Climate Action Partnership, Global Roundtable on Climate Change and founding reporter on The Climate Change Registry.

INVESTING IN GREEN TECHNOLOGY
In the US Alcoa has reduced annual emissions by 13.9 million pounds of CO2 through renewable energy certificates. Our newest smelter in Iceland runs on 100% hydropower and we are investing further in hydroelectricity in Brazil and the US; while in Australia we are the country’s largest thermally efficiency co-generator.

DRIVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY
We set ourselves an aggressive target to reduce our direct global greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 to 25 per cent compared to 1990 levels. We met this target in 2003 – and today our emissions are 33% below our 1990 baseline.

INCREASING RECYCLING
Aluminum can be endlessly recycled and in recycling we save 95% of the energy needed to make new metal. Alcoa has a global goal to manufacture 50% of our products from recycled aluminium by 2020 and to raise the North American used beverage can recycling rate to 75% by 2015. In 2007 alone, we recycled around 14 billion aluminum cans.

SUPPORTING LOCAL ACTION
Through a range of global and local outreach programs such as Ten Million Trees, Earthwatch, and Alcoa Foundation’s flagship Conservation and Sustainability Fellowship Program, Alcoa has been at the forefront of community projects that address critical sustainability issues for decades. In 2007 Alcoa Foundation invested more than $8 million in community-based projects projects to inform public policy, build capacity, raise awareness and mobilize action on global climate change.

Alcoa As Part Of The Solution:
Read More