Alcoa reports safest, most environmentally efficient year on record

Alcoa, New York, has announced that 2013 was its safest, most environmentally efficient year on record, as the company made strong strides in improving the sustainability of its global operations. The achievements were announced in the firm’s 2013 "Sustainability Report," which also highlights innovations to help customers meet sustainability challenges, including technology to enable lightweighting in transportation.

The company had no employee fatalities and reduced its “days away, restricted and transfer” injury rate by 30 percent from 2012. In addition, its Stop for Safety Program encourages and recognizes employees for stopping work when they see a potentially unsafe situation on the job.

Alcoa achieved a 2.6 percent decrease in the intensity of its greenhouse gas emissions in its Global Primary Products business and reduced its absolute emissions by 3.1 million metric tons. In 2005 the company committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2020 and 35 percent by 2030. For every metric ton of aluminum the company makes today, it emits 25.5 percent less greenhouse gas than it did in 2005.

The firm’s 951 adhesive bonding technology opened the door to aluminum-intensive vehicle production at scale, enabling cars and trucks to be lighter-weight and more fuel-efficient. It also recently introduced the new Ultra ONE™ heavy-duty truck wheel, which is 47 percent lighter than steel wheels of the same size.