Alcoa to supply its low-carbon aluminium rolling slab ECOLUM™ to Gränges AB in support of supply chain sustainability

Alcoa Corporation has announced today, July 22, that it has reached an agreement with Gränges AB to supply its low-carbon aluminium rolling slab ECOLUM™ to help the company achieve the goal of cutting carbon emissions across supply chain. ECOLUM™ is part of Alcoa’s SUSTANA™ line of low-carbon products that support supply chain sustainability.

“Gränges is committed to reducing our climate impact from a life-cycle perspective, and thereby enhancing our sustainability performance,” said Sofia Hedevåg, Gränges’ SVP Sustainability.

She added, “One of the key priorities in our climate strategy is to collaborate along the value chain and increase the sourcing and use of recycled aluminum and low-carbon primary aluminum since such materials significantly reduce our products’ carbon footprint.”

Produced at hydroelectric-powered aluminum smelters, Alcoa’s ECOLUM™ guarantees no more than 2.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide smelter emissions per tonne of aluminium, 75 per cent better than the industry average.

When taking upstream emissions from bauxite mining and alumina refining into consideration, Alcoa’s low-carbon aluminium product guarantees less than four tonnes of total carbon dioxide equivalent per tonne of aluminium.

“Our industry-leading performance provides a distinct advantage in offering low-carbon aluminum products to our customers,” said Tim Reyes, Alcoa’s Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer.

He also said, “Alcoa controls its entire aluminum value chain, beginning with sustainable bauxite mining and an alumina refining system that has the lowest carbon dioxide emissions of any producer – all supplying a smelting system predominately powered with hydroelectric energy.”

Reyes added: “There is a growing demand for sustainably-produced materials, with customers acknowledging that it is worth paying extra for these attributes. With our SUSTANA™ line of products and certifications from the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative, we are able to support the demand for sustainably produced metal.”

However, Alcoa has not specified how much aluminium it will supply to Gränges, which is a Sweden-based aluminium company and has a production capacity of 460,000 tonnes per year split across five production sites.