Issues: Environment, Community Development, Cost Reduction, Well-being, Natural Resource Management
Stakeholders: Communities, Customers,
Region: South America
Searching for and implementing measures to achieve environmental eco-efficiency is an important part of all Novelis operations. Lead by Continuous Improvement methodology (CI) and with a goal of minimizing the impact of Company operations on the environment, the Pindamonhangaba plant endeavored to keep all ecologically harmful waste generated from its operations from going into landfills.
To this end, Novelis invested in recycling alternatives and formed partnerships for various types of waste materials which are now marketed as profit-generating raw materials. The recycling alternatives include the reuse of non-metal residues to produce refractory items. Novelis also marketed metal-containing residues to be used as raw materials in other market segments. For example, a partnership was formed with a manufacturing company which now mixes Novelis hot and cold dust-cleaned materials with grinder’s sediment. After mixing it with other materials, the recycled mix goes through a compound chemical correction process. The resulting material is then pressed and sold to iron metallurgy plants to be added to metal scrap for transformation into steel.
In 2006, the Novelis Pindamonhangaba plant achieved total elimination of all ecologically harmful waste destined to landfills through the development of recycling alternatives. Moreover, Pindamonhangaba has also significantly decreased the amount of all other waste from going into landfills. In turn, 93 % of all plant-generated waste in 2006 was recycled, which amounts to nearly 21,000 tons. While the biggest gain is clearly the environmental impact, the plant has saved approximately $150,000 in disposal-related costs.
