Sustainability of Resources
At the very front end of the aluminum production process is the mining of bauxite, aluminum’s natural ore that is a mixture of silicon, iron, and aluminum oxides. Alcoa mines bauxite in Jamaica, Suriname, Brazil, Guinea, and Australia; there is no mining activity in Canada. Bauxite mining, which is done in relatively shallow pits, disturbs the land and disrupts its biodiversity. Bauxite refining creates waste in the form of bauxite residue, which is a sand and mud slurry that contains most of the iron and silicon impurities from the bauxite. The residue is stored in impoundments that are capped and re-vegetated when they are full. We must minimize the area of disturbed land and implement progressive land rehabilitation programs to restore the biodiversity of the disturbed areas.
Alcoa actively endorses the concept of biodiversity conservation by operating worldwide in a manner that minimizes effects on natural habitats and biological resources. As part of the environmental impact study for the Baie-Comeau Smelter modernization project, Alcoa Canada Global Primary Products is testing a new World Resources Institute (WRI) tool to evaluate the reliance and impact of our future operations on the services provided by ecosystems. If the trial is conclusive, this approach will eventually be expanded to our other plants.
For Alcoa, water is a key raw material that must be carefully managed. The major decrease in water consumption achieved by our Québec facilities in 2009 could, unfortunately, not be maintained in 2010. That said, we are sparing no effort in our aim to repeat this performance.
We continue to work hard to reuse all of our process waste products and to find new ways to minimize our waste streams. We have set targets in this regard, and all of our facilities have achieved Performance level under the ICI ON RECYCLE! recycling program.
The electricity used to produce aluminum in Québec is primarily hydroelectric. Alcoa signed an agreement in 2008 with the Québec Government to modernize the Baie-Comeau Smelter and renew the basic power supply contracts for our three smelters. An Energy Efficiency Committee is active at each of our facilities. In addition, our Bécancour and Deschambault smelters are both part of Hydro-Québec’s Écolectrique network, a grouping of top energy efficient companies. In 2010, the Bécancour Smelter became the first company to achieve Elite membership in this network thanks its cumulative energy efficiency gains of more than 250 gigawatt hours (GWh).
