Sustainability - Novelis

Sustainability

Sustainability has been core to Novelis since our founding. Our fierce commitment to environmental stewardship defines who we are, what we do, and why we do it.

Novelis is Leading the Way in Decarbonizing the Aluminum Industry

We are taking steps today that will have a great impact on the future of our industry and world. Watch the video for a glimpse into what we are working on.

Sustainability is the Heart of Novelis

Novelis leads the industry in making aluminum the sustainable material of choice for beverage packaging, automotive, aerospace, transportation, building & construction, and a wide range of other vibrant, growing industries who seek strong yet lightweight sustainable materials that support the circular economy. For us, sustainability is not a ‘nice to have’ concept – it is the core of who we are and what we do. As the leader in the manufacturing of sustainable aluminum products, we take our responsibility to reduce the carbon footprint of our industry seriously. We work hard to enable a more circular aluminum industry.

Our extensive use of recycled aluminum – currently 61% of our inputs – is at the core of our innovative, circular business model.

Fiscal Year 2023 Novelis Sustainability Report

Novelis is a leading sustainable aluminum solutions provider and world leader in aluminum rolling and recycling. We are proud to issue our sustainability report “Scaling Circularity” for the 2023 fiscal year (April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023), which highlights progress toward our sustainability goals in the areas of environment, safety, diversity and inclusion, and community.

Read Report

Our Sustainability Goals

While we’ve long been the sustainability leader in our industry, there’s more we intend to do to advance aluminum’s sustainability position. Our sustainability targets and measurements adhere to the priorities set by the Paris Agreement.

The ambitious carbon reduction goals we’ve set and shorter terms objectives for getting there include:

Novelis will be a carbon neutral company by 2050 or sooner

Novelis will achieve a 30% reduction in our carbon footprint by 2026

In addition to reducing our CO2 footprint, we are also pursuing the following goals by 2026:

10%
Reduction in Energy Intensity

10%
Reduction in Water Intensity

20%
Reduction in Waste to Landfill

While these goals will not be easy to achieve, we are confident we can reach them given our track record. For example, as of 2020, we achieved:

31% reduction in carbon emissions

26% reduction in water intensity

40% reduction in non-dross waste to landfill

25% reduction in energy intensity

From a baseline average of FY2007-2009 through FY20 (April 1, 2019-March 31, 2020)

Click here to read about all our commitments:

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Read our Green Bond Report Annual Report 2023

Through the issuance of our Green Bond, we aim to finance a lower carbon, more circular economy through expenditures that align with our environmental priorities.

Green Bond Report Annual Report 2023

A Legacy of Leadership

Novelis has been the undisputed global leader in sustainable aluminum product manufacturing for quite some time. We recycle more aluminum than anyone in the world – 2.2 million tonnes per year. Over the past 10 years, we’ve invested more than $700 million to expand our aluminum recycling operations, increasing the recycled content of our products to the highest level in the industry. And we’re not stopping there.

Incorporating as much recycled aluminum as possible into our products is the single most impactful way we can reduce carbon emissions across the global aluminum value chain. Using recycled aluminum is by far the lowest carbon-intensive way to produce flat rolled aluminum products. Compared to the amount of carbon generated by primary aluminum production – which can range from 4 to 20 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (Co2e) per ton of aluminum – recycling aluminum emits as little as half a ton of CO2e per ton of aluminum produced. That’s because recycling uses just 5% of the energy used to make primary aluminum.

“Our position is clear – the more recycled aluminum we incorporate into the products we manufacture, the better for all of us.”

Driving Circularity

Novelis is addressing the challenges of climate change by developing and implementing innovative circular business practices that significantly lower carbon emissions from aluminum production. Sustainability experts applaud the pioneering closed-loop production and supply chain relationships we’ve formed with some of the leading brands in the world in the beverage can and automotive industries.

As an industry, we have the ideal, most infinitely recyclable material whose inherent properties do not change either during use nor through repeated recycling and repurposing into new products. Aluminum is a material extraordinarily well-suited for circular manufacturing systems. Recycled aluminum requires the addition of relatively little – if any – new primary metal or additives to retain its fundamental material features, function, and performance properties.

Sustainability Certifications Validate Our Efforts

ASI
All of Novelis’ plants in Europe are fully ASI certified. In addition, our Pindamonhangaba plant in Brazil, our Yeongju plant in South Korea, and our joint venture Logan Aluminum have all received the ASI Performance Standard certification. We are pursuing Chain of Custody certifications for each of these facilities, as well as ASI certifications for all of our plants in North America.
View Our ASI Certifications

GreenCircle
Novelis’ 3105, 3004, and 3025 alloys produced at our Davenport, Iowa; Richmond, Virginia; and Uhrichsville, Ohio, facilities are GreenCircle certified to contain up to 99% recycled content. GreenCircle is an unbiased, third-party certification company that provides independent verification that sustainability claims related to an organization’s products and operations are honest, valid and transparent.

Beyond Environmental Stewardship

For Novelis, sustainability isn’t just about the environment, it’s also about employee safety and wellness; diversity and inclusion; and community engagement. We view these components as more than mere table stakes or boxes to be checked. To us, they are critical elements of true corporate social responsibility. Collectively, our efforts to be more sustainable generate meaningful benefits for our customers and partners, for our employees, for the communities we operate in and – most importantly – for our planet.

Improve Your Experience

Click here to read about all our commitments:

Related News

Novelis and IAI Discussed Circularity of Aluminum Cans at World Knowledge Forum

Counting on Cans

Dev Ahuja shares what he has learned in a more than three-decade-long career in finance

Documents

Green Bond Framework

Relatório Anual América do Sul

ASI Documents (China)