| Environmental Releases
as a key area of focus |
| Short or long term |
Business groups
most affected |
Stakeholders
most affected/involved |
| Both |
Bauxite and Alumina,
Primary Metal,
Packaging |
Communities, Government |
|
 |
|
As part of Alcan’s environmental,
health and safety management system, environmental
releases present a number of challenges due to
the wide variety of air, land and water issues
related to the diverse operations of the
Company’s four business groups.
|
|
|
Key Challenges and Opportunities:
| • |
Bauxite and Alumina: dust, bauxite residue,
marine impacts, caustic soda. |
| • |
Primary Metal: dust, polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs), fluorides, oil residues, spent
potlining. |
| • |
Engineered Products: minimization and recycling
of used aluminum (including customers' used materials),
volume reduction and sustainable disposal of solid
waste, rolling oils, emulsions, and caustic soda. |
| • |
Packaging: volatile organic compounds (VOCs),
hazardous solid waste, solid waste, recycled material. |
|
As illustrated in the process flow diagram in figure 1, Alcan's
industrial activities generate a number of environmental releases.
The Company's approach to managing these releases is an integral
part of the EHS FIRST management approach. All
Alcan sites are required to have a program for the management
of environmental releases that conforms to the ISO 14001
standard. It is broad in scope and covers releases to air
and water at all Alcan sites to minimize potential environmental
impacts, material losses and operational costs, while conforming
to all applicable regulatory standards. This includes a thorough
analysis of all process inputs and outputs as well as awareness
of both on-site and off-site impacts associated with the environmental
releases. After evaluating the significance and the potential
for improvement, priority objectives and targets are set.
Figure 1: Environmental Releases
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This approach enables Alcan to meet a wide range of legal/regulatory
requirements worldwide, and fosters its ability to exceed
such requirements where possible and minimize any adverse
environmental impacts from operations and business practices.
Alcan leadership in reducing the environmental footprint associated
with its operations and success in this regard is a key part
of ongoing public acceptance of its operations over the short
and long term and continued "renewal" of its licence
to operate. Alcan's values, policies, and management
systems all form a Company culture that respects the communities
and the natural environment by conserving resources, minimizing
negative impacts and ensuring the health and safety of all stakeholders.
Within EHS FIRST, specific emphasis is placed
on the management of waste, with standardized requirements
for all sites for monitoring, segregating, handling, storage
and treatment. The sites must evaluate waste minimization
options such as recycling, technological improvements, changes
in material inputs, improvements to operating practices and
processes, and product design.
With the reinforcement of environmental regulations and greater
public concern about the potential impact of waste sites
and landfill sites, companies like Alcan must operate and/or
use third-party sites that are appropriately designed to prevent
impact on the environment. Consequently, Alcan recognizes
its responsibility to reduce at source the waste sent to such
sites, while ensuring that all Company sites are managed in
such a way that environmental protection is a constant priority.
Internal policy dictates that waste disposal sites that cannot
comply with environmental regulations must be closed and rehabilitated.
Total hazardous waste
|
|
|
| in thousands of tonnes |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| 2004 |
|
97 |
|
|
|
| 2003 |
|
61 |
|
|
|
| 2002 |
|
831 |
|
 |
|
Recycled |
|
 |
|
Landfilled |
|
 |
|
Incinerated |
| The increase in total 2004 hazardous waste tonnage compared
to 2003 is attributable to the Pechiney acquisition. |
| Total hazardous waste trends vary as specific substances
are subject to regulatory changes and individual country classifications.
For example, Alcan data in 2003 shows a large decrease over 2002 due to
residue disposal pond returned supernatant liquor at the Gove, Australia
refinery being declassified as hazardous waste in 2003. |
| Bauxite residue is excluded in 2003 and 2004 and is
now reported separately. |
Total hazardous waste rate
|
|
|
| in tonnes of hazardous waste per million US$ sales |
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| 2004 |
|
3.89 |
|
|
|
| 2003 |
|
4.40 |
|
|
|
| 2002 |
|
66.57 |
|
|
|
Recycled |
|
|
|
Landfilled |
|
|
|
Incinerated |
Environmental events
|
|
|
| total number of minor events |
| |
|
|
| 2004 |
|
324 |
|
|
|
| 2003 |
|
256 |
|
|
|
| 2002 |
|
259 |
| The increase in environmental events can be attributed
to the Pechiney acquisition. Pechiney implemented incident reporting in
2004. |
| The Alcan share of 2004 minor events is 180, a very
significant decrease compared to 2003. |
Environmental events rate
|
|
|
| minor events per million hours worked |
| |
|
|
| 2004 |
|
1.76 |
|
|
|
| 2003 |
|
2.24 |
|
|
|
| 2002 |
|
2.62 |
| Minor environmental events result in minor or no harm
or injury to any person or wildlife and insignificant damage to habitat.
The impacts, if any, are temporary in nature, with total restoration occurring
in a short period of time. No major environmental events occured during
the reporting period. |
Due to the process-specific nature of environmental releases
(including waste), key
issues, challenges and successes will be discussed on
a business group basis.
|
