National Nonprofit Organization Recognizes World's Largest Aluminum Can
Recycler for Corporate Social Responsibility, Environmental Efforts
STAMFORD, Conn., Oct. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Keep America Beautiful,
Inc., the nation's largest nonprofit community improvement organization,
recently awarded Novelis Inc. its 2009 Vision for America Award honoree at a
gala dinner in Atlanta.
Keep America Beautiful honored Novelis for the corporation's leadership in
environmental issues, employee volunteerism, and for its outstanding efforts
to promote recycling in America and worldwide. The Vision for America Award is
presented annually to distinguished leaders of honored corporations whose
personal and corporate commitment have significantly enhanced civic,
environmental and social stewardship throughout the United States.
"I'm honored to accept the Vision for America Award on behalf of the 12,300
employees of Novelis," said Philip Martens, president and COO, upon receiving
the 24th annual award. "The recycling of beverage cans is an important part of
our business; however, it is also a simple action individuals can take every
day that greatly impacts the well-being of our communities and future
generations."
"Through its global recycling programs, Novelis has demonstrated its
commitment to increasing access to and advancing the public's awareness of
recycling," said Keep America Beautiful President and CEO Matthew M. McKenna.
"With substantial savings of energy, carbon emissions, and natural resources,
recycling is the best way for all individuals to play a role in improving the
environment."
"Through its global recycling programs, Novelis has demonstrated its
commitment to increasing access to recycling, and advancing the public's
awareness of recycling of aluminum and of all materials," said Barry Caldwell,
senior vice president of government affairs and corporate communications of
Waste Management, Inc., and chairman of Keep America Beautiful. "Social
responsibility is also a core value of Novelis, and the company truly supports
a 'triple bottom line' approach to its global operations - encouraging not
just profitability, but progress in the environment and in society."
Among the many factors in KAB's selection of Novelis was the company's
commitment to volunteerism. To encourage and assist employees to volunteer
their time in support of community organizations as individuals and through
team-based projects, Novelis identifies and organizes volunteer opportunities
within each of its communities.
Beyond recycling and volunteerism, Novelis is committed to reducing its energy
consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Beginning in 2005, Novelis
established a set of environmental sustainability objectives focused on three
annual measures:
-- Reduce landfill waste generation by 6 percent per year
-- Improve energy efficiency by 2 percent per year
-- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2 percent per year
As part of these commitments, which extend through 2012, every Novelis
facility is mandated to develop an energy-saving initiative each year.
Since 2006, Novelis has supported federal greenhouse gas reduction and energy
efficiency initiatives as a Climate Leaders Partner with the U.S. EPA. Through
this industry-government partnership, Novelis further developed an emissions
inventory monitoring plan to measure and validate its progress against its
stated goals. A dozen Novelis facilities in the U.S. and Canada participate in
this program, four of which have recycling operations.
Through its R&D and Continuous Improvement teams, Novelis works with its
customers to find ways to reduce the amount of aluminum that goes into its
products, maximize recycling and increase recycled content. For example,
improvements in the manufacturing process allow for "downgauging," or using a
thinner sheet of aluminum. The amount of aluminum required to produce a
beverage can shrank almost 30 percent from 1980 to 2000 while maintaining the
necessary level of durability.
Keep America Beautiful saluted Novelis for taking its role as a significant
corporate citizen seriously through its ongoing commitment to the environment
and communities.
About Keep America Beautiful, Inc.
Keep America Beautiful, Inc., established in 1953, is the nation's largest
volunteer-based community action and education organization. With a network of
nearly 1,000 affiliate and participating organizations, Keep America Beautiful
forms public-private partnerships and programs that engage individuals to take
greater responsibility for improving their community environments. To learn
more about Keep America Beautiful and its Vision for America Award, please go
to www.kab.org.
About Novelis Inc.
Novelis Inc. is the global leader in aluminum rolled products and aluminum can
recycling. The company operates in 11 countries, has approximately 12,300
employees and reported revenue of $10.2 billion in fiscal year 2009. Novelis
supplies premium aluminum sheet and foil products to automotive,
transportation, packaging, construction, industrial, electronics and printing
markets throughout North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Novelis is a
subsidiary of Hindalco Industries Limited (BSE: HINDALCO), one of Asia's
largest integrated producers of aluminum and a leading copper producer.
Hindalco is a flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, a multinational
conglomerate based in Mumbai, India. For more information, please visit
www.novelis.com.
Contacts
Robert Wallace/Larry Kaufman
Tel: 203.659.3016 / 203.659.3014
Email: rwallace@kab.org / lkaufman@kab.org
Web site: www.kab.org
SOURCE Keep America Beautiful, Inc.
Robert Wallace, +1-203-659-3016, rwallace@kab.org, or Larry Kaufman,
+1-203-659-3014, lkaufman@kab.org, both of Keep America Beautiful, Inc.
