Hydro’s Paragominas bauxite mine and Alunorte alumina refinery are the next of Hydro’s operations that have been certified to the ASI Performance Standard and Chain of Custody Standard, effectively extending Hydro’s certifications to cover its entire value chain from mine to casthouse and onward to its extrusion and rolling business areas.

Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) has announced that Hydro Bauxite and Alumina operations in Brazil have have been successfully certified against its Performance Standard and Chain of Custody Standard. Hydro’s Alunorte refinery is the world’s largest alumina refinery outside China. Outputs from the Paragominas mine and the Alunorte refinery are used both in Hydro’s own value chain and are also sold to other companies.

The ASI CoC Standard sets out requirements for the creation of a Chain of Custody for material that is produced and processed through the value chain into diverse downstream sectors. The implementation of ASI’s CoC Standard links verified practices at successive steps of the supply chain – certified under the ASI Performance Standard – to the products produced by ASI Certified Entities. Hydro’s CoC Certifications already include scrap re-melting and casthouse operations, and this new certification now enables Hydro to produce ASI certified aluminium from new material as well.

The ASI Certification program was developed through an extensive multi-stakeholder consultation process and is the only comprehensive voluntary sustainability standard initiative for the aluminium value chain. The independent, third-party audits of the Rolled Products operations were carried out by DNV GL.

Fiona Solomon, Chief Executive Officer at ASI said “Hydro has achieved yet another milestone by extending their Performance and CoC Standard certifications to the start of its value chain at the bauxite mine, becoming only the second vertically integrated ASI Member to do so. ASI’s Chain of Custody Standard is designed to drive implementation of responsible practices from end to end in the aluminium value chain. Certification against both ASI Standards creates a connection to metal production and sourcing, supporting market choice for responsibly produced aluminium. We congratulate Hydro on their strong commitment to ASI, demonstrated by the achievement of their 6th Performance Standard Certification and 2nd CoC Certification covering a range of business units.”

John Thuestad, Executive Vice-President of Bauxite & Alumina in Hydro, says: “The ASI certification of Paragominas bauxite mine and Alunorte alumina refinery is an important milestone in our commitment and efforts to produce aluminium raw materials according to the highest industry standards for responsibility and sustainability, and to deliver certified products to our customers and the rest of the aluminium value-chain. We are prepared to be held accountable for the way we operate, and these certifications add obligations to our ambition to not only maximise the benefits of aluminium in use, but also to minimise the impact of producing it. We are now one notable step closer toward our goal of going to market with products and solutions that are ASI certified throughout the entire value-chain.”