commitment to sustainable and environmentally friendly aluminum

Rio tinto: a firm commitment to sustainable and environmentally friendly aluminum

Meeting the demand for more environmentally friendly metals, including aluminum. This is one of the recent bets of the multinational Rio Tinto, in favor of an energy transition and global sustainability objectives.

Recently, governments in the United States, Europe and Canada have been adopting policies to change what is known as the energy trilemma (energy security, energy affordability and sustainability) into mutually reinforcing goals. A clear example can be found in the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, which provides nearly $369 billion in support for these measures.

More and more consumers are supporting sustainability with the purchase of products and services. Simon Kucher’s Global Sustainability Survey 2021 showed that 74% of respondents felt sustainability was a crucial purchasing factor in categories such as energy and utilities, construction and consumer goods.

Precisely, 78% of global consumers feel that environmental sustainability is important while 63% made modest changes to live more sustainably.

Rio Tinto is aware of this dynamic. “We continually engage with customers to understand their needs and tailor our product offering in response, from partnering to develop carbon-free aluminum castings to incorporating recycled content into our product offering” they noted.

They are also committed to low-carbon and carbon-free options. “We are already supplying low-carbon aluminum products. RenewAL is the aluminum industry’s first certified low-carbon aluminum. And ELYSIS, our joint venture with Alcoa, is developing an innovative aluminum smelting technology that produces no direct greenhouse gases. This will change the way we make aluminum for the world, and companies like Apple are already using it in their products, helping to meet their customers’ expectations for sustainable production,” they added.

It has numerous certifications. “We have received key industry sustainability accreditations such as The Aluminium Stewardship Initiative, Copper Mark and Moly Mark. And initiatives such as START, our blockchain traceability platform, ensure that our supply chain is also transparent, providing our customers and their consumers with access to a holistic set of environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics for our aluminum products,” they noted.

Finally, they have end-to-end aluminum tracking. START is a responsible materials label, a pioneer in supply chain traceability. Built on blockchain technology, it provides customers and end users with real-time data on the origin of their materials at every stage of the supply chain.

Leveraging ELYSISTM technology, 1.2 million cans were produced with a QR code to inspire consumers to learn more about the cans’ low carbon footprint.