By the end of 2030, a new initiative from Novelis plans to achieve an average of 75% recycled aluminium content, emit less than 3 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per tonne of flat-rolled aluminium shipped, and invest in circularity for the aluminium industry.
Aluminium is growing in popularity in food, beverage, and cosmetic packaging applications, among others – driven by increasing consumer interest for sustainability-minded product design and the subsequent demand for lower-carbon solutions, according to Novelis.
As such, the Novelis 3x30 initiative intends to uplift aluminium as ‘the material of choice’ for circularity and identify priorities to drive its decarbonization and circularity efforts.
Currently, it claims to feature an average of 63% recycled content in its products – a figure it plans to raise by 12% by the end of 2030. This is attributed to its previous sustainability-minded efforts, including an increase in its average recycled content of 10 percentage points; and a 27% carbon emission reduction in fiscal year 2024 from a 2016 baseline.
Furthermore, Novelis plans to become the lowest-emissions provider of flat-rolled aluminium products and continue its ‘first-mover’ investments into circularity for the industry.
“Novelis 3x30 is our roadmap to going further, faster in our efforts to decarbonize our products and increase the circularity of aluminum,” explained Steve Fisher, president and chief executive officer at Novelis. “Novelis has long been a sustainability leader in our industry, but we need to accelerate our progress and help our customers achieve their own goals for decarbonization in a shorter timeframe.
“We are committed to innovating and implementing solutions that significantly decarbonize aluminum and make it the material of choice for the circular economy.”
“We’ve made tremendous progress toward creating a more circular economy for aluminum,” added Pierre Labat, senior vice president and chief strategy and sustainability officer at Novelis. “The 3x30 vision strengthens our commitment to leading the industry toward decarbonization and is essential to our company purpose of Shaping a Sustainable World Together.
“As we look to the future, the success of Novelis 3x30 will be dependent on a company-wide effort by our employees, along with meaningful collaborations with our customers, suppliers and research partners.”
Back in August, Novelis claimed to have achieved the highest percentage of recycled content in the aluminium flat rolled products industry, having achieved an average of 61% of its total inputs in the fiscal year ending 31st March 2023. It also reported that it recycled 2.3 million tons of aluminium in 2023, including 82 billion used beverage cans.
The company has also worked with Beiersdorf to incorporate a minimum of 80% recycled aluminium into its NIVEA Creme tin. The move is anticipated to save around 8,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions between now and 2025.
In other news, Speira has upgraded its Grevenbroich and Töging plants with four tiltable rotary furnaces. These are set to recycle ‘low grades’ of aluminium – i.e., heavily contaminated scrap and dross – produced during the melting process.
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