Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) has announced that seven Novelis operations in Europe have been certified against the ASI Performance Standard for responsible production, sourcing and stewardship of aluminium.

Full certification has been achieved at two Nachterstedt (Germany) operations, including the world’s largest aluminium recycling center that annually produces up to 400,000 metric tons of aluminium sheet ingot from recycled material; the Goettingen (Germany) rolling, coating and surface finishing facility; and the Sierre (Switzerland) plant with casting, rolling and finishing operations.

ASI Performance Standard certification with Provisional status has been achieved by Novelis’ casting and rolling plant in Bresso (Italy), casting and rolling plant in Pieve (Italy), and its recycling facility in Latchford (UK), one of Europe’s largest used beverage can recycling plant and Europe’s largest closed-loop recycling operation for automotive aluminium rolled products with annual recycling capacity of 195,000 metric tons. These certifications have been achieved under the ASI Interim Policy regarding Audits, Audit-Related Travel and Coronavirus, which clarifies the reasonable accommodations that can be made to audit plans in consideration of the current COVID-19 situation. The audits were undertaken as a ‘desktop’ exercise with a remote review of relevant documentation. Some criteria requiring on-site evaluation by the auditor will be evaluated when an on-site audit can be scheduled.

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 ASI Performance Standard defines environmental, social and governance principles and criteria, with the aim to address sustainability issues in the aluminium value chain. It sets out 59 criteria under the three sustainability pillars of Governance, Environment and Social, which address key issues such as biodiversity, Indigenous Peoples rights, and greenhouse gas emissions.

The above-mentioned facilities – Sierre, Latchford, Pieve, Bresso, Goettingen, Nachterstedt Recycling and Nachterstedt Rolling – as well as regional management functions in Zurich, Switzerland were added to the scope of Novelis’ existing Chain of Custody Standard certification, which was first achieved in January 2020.

The independent, third-party audits of the Novelis facilities were carried out by SZI GmbH.

Fiona Solomon, Chief Executive Officer at ASI said, “We sincerely congratulate Novelis on achieving ASI Performance Standard Certifications at these seven European facilities, in addition to the expansion of their Chain of Custody certification scope. As a founding ASI member, we are pleased to see Novelis’ strong commitment to certifying their Europe-based operations and to principles of recycling and circular economy more broadly. The combined production capacity of these plants is significant, and the assurance that they are following responsible production practices is an important achievement.”

“Receiving ASI certifications for both the Performance Standard and the Chain of Custody for seven further sites represents an important next step in Novelis’ long-standing commitment to sustainability, transparent reporting and customer-focused achievement,” said Emilio Braghi, Senior Vice President & President Novelis Europe. “This achievement demonstrates to our customers that we are committed to delivering ASI Aluminium and shows our commitment to realising a more sustainable future.”