“Sustainability is the key to production in every industry…” ANDY DORAN, Senior Manager, Sustainability and Recycling Development, Novelis Europe

“Sustainability is the key to production in every industry…As we are putting the scraps back to production; we are not only reducing our own carbon footprint but also helping the OEMs to do the same.”

Andy Doran, Senior Manager, Sustainability and Recycling Development, Novelis Europe, talks with AlCircle about aluminium recycling & sustainability, Novelis’ growth outlook towards their sustainability goal and the prospects of aluminium industry in the downstream sector during the current recessionary scenario.

A trained geologist, Andy has worked in the field of waste management for the last twenty years originally with Alcan Aluminium Can Recycling and later in local and central government. He leads the recycling development and sustainability activities in the Novelis Europe group. Andy is also a Member of the Chartered Institute of Wastes Management and an associate member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment.

Novelis, a unit of India’s Hindalco Industries Ltd. is the global leader in rolled aluminum products and the largest recycler of aluminum. Novelis’ premium product focus and the commitment to an 80% recycled content goal distinguish Novelis as a world leader in sustainable manufacturing.

Excerpts from the interview:

AlCircle: Could you tell us in brief about the new projects and expansions that are coming up in Novelis?

Andy: We are based on the aluminium rolled products business all over the world, rolled sheet to be more generic. In North America, we are investing heavily on the expansion of automotive finished products operations, looking at the escalating demand for automotive aluminum sheet in the United States. At present Novelis’ North American capacity for producing automotive aluminium sheet is 240,000 tons. It’s not only in North America, but we are also expanding globally in the automotive sheet sector. There is a rolled aluminium plant for automotive finished products under construction in Changzhou in China which will have a capacity of 120,000 metric tons per year. As for Europe, Novelis recently has commissioned the expansion of Latchford recycling and manufacturing plant which processes 160,000 tonnes of aluminium annually. Once the expansion is complete, its capacity is expected to increase to 220,000 tonnes.

That’s all about the automotive sector. As for recycling, we have begun operations at a new can recycling facility in Yeongju, South Korea. We have also commissioned a plant in Nachterstedt, Germany, which will be the largest aluminum recycling facility in the world. Another highlight of Novelis is the evercan, the first-of-its-kind; independently certified, high-recycled content aluminum beverage can sheet.

AlCircle: Novelis has been continuously focusing on aluminium recycling and
sustainability. Can you share with us the company outlook in this regard?

Andy: Sustainability is the key to production in every industry. We maintain a strict policy as far as the carbon emission is concerned. Novelis is putting up new strategies to cut down on embedded carbon and energy demand and is working towards increasing recycled content in all their products. In FY13, Novelis has achieved 43% recycled inputs, up 13% from the baseline and is well on track to meet the goal of 80% by 2020. We are in the process of shifting our whole business model of rolling to casting from a traditional linear model to a closed-loop model keeping our sustainability goals in mind. The new strategies will have a great deal of influence on our customers as well helping them lowering carbon footprints in their production.

AlCircle: Tell us in brief about the closed loop manufacturing and recycling plant commissioned recently in Latchford, UK and how the new closed loop model expects to help the auto OEMs and cut down on carbon footprint?

Andy: Novelis has just commissioned the expanded recycling plant in Latchford, which will be dedicated to the automotive aluminium sheet manufacturing and closed loop scrap recycling. The plant invested on new equipment for recycling automotive aluminium scrap including a dedicated furnace, casting system, magnetic separation and handling equipment, as well as world class environmental controls.

This emerging closed-loop model is a big investment on Novelis’ part on the raw material services which is designed to reduce the environmental footprint of the company as well as that of its customers. With this recycling facility, we are remelting scraps, casting ingots and rolling back into automotive sheet and canstocks. Our effort is to build a well-established infrastructure for rolling in Europe.

This closed loop model is expected to strengthen the relationships/business with our suppliers and the major global customers like Jaguar Land Rover. It’s a win-win situation as we are buying back the scraps from the auto OEMs; our customers themselves are turning into our suppliers. As we are putting the scraps back to production; we are not only reducing our own carbon footprint but also helping the OEMs to do the same. We know; it is a challenging job and a slow process to win the co-operation of our customers and to develop innovative & sustainable products and processes. But we are working hard on it.

AlCircle: What is your take on the present recessionary condition in the aluminium industry?

Andy: We do agree with the fact that at present aluminium industry is going through a recessionary condition. However, the market and the economy are in different conditions. Europe is somewhere, in a double dip crisis of recession. But, the downstream market is improving at a consistent rate despite the low global economic situation. The flat rolled product market in Europe grew 1.5 % in last decade and this year’s forecast is up 2.5%. Automotive and packaging markets are big drivers of growth for the aluminium industry and we foresee a very strong and stable growth in this sector. We see a 30% increase in the automotive sheet market by 2020. European rolling product is improving and we see it as a strong market for the automotive industry there. So, it’s a kind of mixed approach. We see growth in investing on the OEMs in North America & Asia, especially China.

AlCircle: Which geographic regions or countries do you think would assist in overcoming the current recessionary trend?

Andy: There is no silver bullet to know which part of the global economy is growing to be the best for the industry in coming time. There is growth in Asia and it is turning out to be the biggest growing market for aluminium industry. Because of the changes happening in the existing markets (such as Europe and the US), aluminium could grow faster than the average growth.

AlCircle: Which industrial sector (automotive, construction, transport, packaging electrical etc.) do you think has the potential to boost the demand for aluminium?

Andy: The automotive sector is the fastest growing market for us. But we also see solid growth opportunities for the packaging and specialties sector. We are focusing on these three sectors and there is a reasonably good outlook for this as for aluminium is concerned. All sectors have a tremendous potential to meet the goal of 80% recycled content that we have set for 2020.

AlCircle: As E-Commerce has caught on in a big way in the consumer sector; do you think e-commerce model can work well in the aluminium sector?

Andy: The world is changing rapidly with the constant growth of the internet and e-commerce is a major trend. Every business has to evolve with time. We have order platforms for our customers and a paperless system. But, when you are dealing in metals, it is important to have personal, face to face communication with your suppliers and customers to do a complete transaction. There has to be good contacts and a strong back office, when you are trying to implement e-commerce in aluminium.

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