Think Broadly about Issues and Impacts
As we develop our sustainability approach we are examining issues that affect us directly (such as environmental emissions from our facilities) and those that shape the world in which we operate (such as the benefits and impacts of our products).

The process flow diagrams shown in Figures 1 and 2 identify major environmental, health, safety and community issues associated with our operations.

Figure 1: Environmental Releases Click here for a PDF version of this graphic (51 KB). You need Adobe® Acrobat® Reader® to view this graphic

Figure 2: Health, Safety and Community Issues Click here for a PDF version of this graphic (51 KB). You need Adobe® Acrobat® Reader® to view this graphic.

Aside from the issues identified in the process flow diagram, there are also important issues – with positive and negative impacts – associated with our products. Aluminum's properties of strength, light weight and recyclability have proved valuable in aerospace, packaging, construction and other industries. Automobile manufacturers increasingly are turning to aluminum to improve both the safety and fuel economy of their vehicles. For example, for every kilogram of aluminum substituted for steel in a typical automobile,
some 14-20 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions are avoided during its use. A challenge to our industry, however, is that aluminum used in some other applications can be difficult to recover, resulting in a loss of the material and its embodied energy.

Beyond the issues directly related to our processes and products, we face a range of social responsibility issues associated with our operations. For example, as we expand our presence in China, we must address issues concerning human rights, labour standards, intellectual property and access to energy and natural resources.

We also need to examine broader social issues, such as income growth and distribution, HIV/AIDS and community evolution to understand how they affect our operations and how they present opportunities to create social and shareholder value.

Because our business groups are quite diverse, their most important issues and impacts vary. For example, in our Bauxite and Alumina group, among the significant issues are relationships with local communities, including indigenous peoples, the impacts of mining activities on land and biodiversity, and post-mining rehabilitation. In contrast, significant issues in our Packaging group are the life cycle impacts of multiple materials, product protection and developing means to combat package counterfeiting.

In two sessions in 2004, with diverse groups of internal Alcan personnel and external stakeholders, we explored and identified what the most important issues were, how the 'value proposition' that came with addressing 'sustainability' should be expressed (the oft-stated question – "what's in it for me?"), and what objectives were needed to ensure effective progress in the direction we wanted to go (see the "Managing for Sustainability" section for further information). The key issues are identified here.