During its general assembly in Montreux (Switzerland), industry association European Aluminium introduced three new member companies and stressed the importance of workplace safety by awarding the three winners of its Safety Solutions competition.

“Our growing membership sends a strong signal: aluminium companies from different parts of the value chain and across Europe are keen to work together to address issues in key areas such as energy, the circular economy, trade, innovation, and sustainability. Our association represents more than 80% of all smelting, semi-fabrication, and recycling activity in wider Europe, and our strong representation means we can speak with one voice. This is especially important now that we are facing some tough challenges on the trade front, ” said Gerd Götz, Director General of European Aluminium.

The three new member companies are the Bulgarian manufacturer of rolled and extruded aluminium products Alcomet, Dutch aluminium production company Aldel and the Dutch metals recycling company Roba Metals. Alcomet joins European Aluminium’s Rolling and Extrusion Divisions, Aldel the Primary Division, and Roba Metals the Recycling Division. The new additions bring European Aluminium’s total membership to over 85 companies and associations representing more than 600 plants across 30 European countries.

During the General Assembly, European Aluminium also awarded the winners of its Safety Solutions competition, which is held every two years in conjunction with the association’s Safety Workshop to share best practices and innovative ideas to improve workplace safety.

“Safety in the workplace is a top priority for our industry and we are continuously looking for ways to reduce employees’ exposure to risk. The great diversity within European Aluminium’s membership, combined with the number of installations covered, gives the association a very broad view on the safety challenges for the entire sector. The industry’s willingness to share safety statistics and lessons learned means we can ensure that best practices are shared across the membership,” said Emilio Braghi, Chairman of European Aluminium.

The first place went to the AluNorf rolling plant in Neuss (Germany), a joint venture by Norsk Hydro and Novelis, for a solution aimed to increase pedestrian safety and reduce the risk of collisions between forklift trucks and other vehicles. The Hydro Extrusions Poland plant in Chrzanów came in second for an IT solution that efficiently manages the forklift fleet and can perform forklift damage control. The Chrzanów plant also claimed the third place for a solution which aims to increase the safety of transported material during crane operations.

This year’s edition of the competition received a total of 44 entries, which were anonymously judged by over 70 experts from all segments of the aluminium value-chain. All entries are available on the association’s website, together with the entries of the previous editions.