“Not only is recycling environment-friendly; it’s also smart for business”: John Gardner, VP and Chief Sustainability Officer for Novelis

Recently, Novelis was recognized as a Climate Leadership Award winner by the EPA for Excellence in Greenhouse Gas Management. The company was acknowledged for demonstrating leadership in managing and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in internal operations and throughout the supply chain, as well as integrating climate resilience into its operating strategies. This achievement comes in line with Novelis’ overall disruptive sustainability strategy and goal to achieve 80% recycled inputs across its product lines.

On this occasion, AlCircle spoke to Mr. John Gardner, the Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer for Novelis Inc. With more than 25 years of experience at Novelis, Mr. Gardner currently leads the development of a globally integrated sustainability program that reflects the company’s commitment to deliver sustainable solutions in its processes and products. He deliberated on the significance of recycling and sustainability, Novelis’ Sustainability Report and the new closed loop recycling model for Novelis.

Excerpts from the interview:

AlCircle: What is the significance of recycling and sustainability in the present prospect of the aluminium industry?

Mr. Gardner: Due to rising energy demands, natural resource scarcity and a desire for consumers to be more sustainable, demand for our products is expected to grow by more than 30 percent over the next five years. Aluminium is strong, infinitely recyclable and lightweight – which is especially critical in today’s sustainability driven world. As a result, aluminium will play a central role in the transition to the lower-carbon economy of the future. And, considering the limited supply of aluminium in the world and the massive amount of energy it takes to extract pure aluminium from the earth, recycling and sustainability are becoming the way of the future for our industry. It takes 95 percent less energy to create a product from recycled aluminium than from prime and, not only is recycling environment-friendly; it’s also smart for business.

AlCircle: All major aluminium producers are banking on the automotive sector for a turnaround in the aluminium market. What is your take on that?

Mr. Gardner: The growth of aluminium’s use in the automotive market is real. More and more automakers are turning to aluminium to meet environmental standards of reducing emissions and increasing fuel efficiency with lighter weight vehicles. We expect that the demand from this market will increase by 30 percent per year until 2020, which will be the single largest driver for growth in our business. At Novelis, we commissioned two new automotive finishing lines in Oswego, New York, in late 2013 and we are working on our plan to open another one in Changzhou, China, by the end of 2014. We also have recently announced two new lines set to be commissioned in 2015: one in Nachterstedt, Germany, and another in Oswego, New York. When the new lines would be commissioned in late 2015, Novelis will have invested about $550 million in expanding its global automotive sheet capacity and reach approximately 900,000 tons per year capacity, a three-fold increase from just a year ago.

AlCircle: Please tell us in brief about 2013 Sustainability Report of Novelis. How would you like to explain Novelis’ “Sustainability through Disruptive Innovation” strategy to us?

Mr. Gardner: Our intent when we established our sustainability strategy three years ago, was to transcend the incremental approach by radically transforming our company – and, in the process, lead the way in our industry. This approach is driving changes in the way we source inputs, structure our supply chain, make capital investments, develop our products and engage with our customers. We are still in the early stages of our sustainability journey, with many hurdles yet to overcome, but our efforts are already showing results. We have made steady progress, most notably increasing our recycled content to 43 percent and setting a clear path to reach 50 percent by 2015. In addition, we have decreased our greenhouse gas intensity significantly. We are firmly convinced that our commitment to sustainability will be the key value driver for our company going forward.

AlCircle: Please tell us in brief something about the evercan™ project at Novelis.

Mr. Gardner: Novelis evercan™ is the first certified high recycled content aluminium can available for the beverage industry. It provides the opportunity for beverage owners to package their soft drinks and beer in a high-recycled, low carbon footprint beverage container. Made of a minimum 90 percent recycled aluminium, evercan™ sheet is certified by SCS, an independent leader in environmental auditing. The evercan™ closes the loop between consumer recycling and new cans, saving energy and reducing emissions.


AlCircle: Please tell us something about how Novelis is developing the new closed loop recycling model for sustainable manufacturing.

Mr. Gardner: To reduce the life cycle impacts of aluminium products, we are working to create a circular business model that is focused on high recycled content, closed-loop manufacturing and sustainable product development. We will build on our long history of closed loop recycling in the beverage can market and extend that to our entire portfolio. For example, we are developing new products, like evercanTM, that are compatible with high levels of recycled content and we are building this approach into our commercial agreements to ensure we receive all scrap generated during the automotive stamping process. We are also working on collaboration projects to increase end-of-life scrap and we will continue to work aggressively to develop new strategies to achieve our 80 percent recycled content target by 2020.

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