Alro S A: Romanian aluminium producer asserts its commitment to sustainable development and circular economy

Alro SA, one of the biggest vertically integrated aluminium producers of Romania and as well as in Europe, published its third Consolidated Sustainable Value Report for 2019, that delivers a transparent and detailed overview of the Group's efforts around the key environmental, social and governance areas that are important to its investors, employees, customers and other stakeholders.

In the context of the latest legislative changes at European level, the Group is committed to comply to and adapt its development strategies and programs.

Marian NĂSTASE, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ALRO, said: “In 2019 we continued to implement measures, to create systems and to make progress in integrating sustainability into everything we do, with the ambition of becoming a green factory, innovative and sustainable, and of achieving our goal of near to zero emissions and waste with the help of the state-of-the-art technologies.”

Marian NĂSTASE added: “In the next period, we will focus on increasing the production mix in favour of high and very high value-added products and continuing investing in energy efficiency”.

ALRO Group prepared the 2019 Sustainable Value Report with the support of INNOVA Project Consulting as an external sustainability consultant.

INNOVA Project Consulting Management team, said: “We are delighted to have had the opportunity to support the preparation of the ALRO Group 2019 Sustainable Value Report, a Group with tradition in the aluminium sector, which in recent years has demonstrated that sustainability and innovation play an important role in its development.”

The Group sustained in 2019 to execute energy efficiency programs and to integrate circular economy principles in its business through extensive R&D investments, two examples being ALUM's project to transform red mud into a viable product for other industries and ALRO's partnership with Rio Tinto Aluminium Pechiney regarding the relining of its pots with the AP12LE technology, which is expected to significantly increase the Company's energy efficiency.

Patronizing the same direction of enlarging efficiency and reducing the effects of the Company's activity on the environment and capitalizing on new opportunities, ALRO continued to increase the volume of recycled and re-melted aluminium scrap, reaching a level of 400,000 tonnes of processed scrap since 2013 and a level of 10 million tonnes of electrolytic aluminium produced since 1965, when it started production. The key focus of the organization is to increase the total processing capacity of its Eco-Recycling Facility to 100,000 tonnes per year. By processing the aluminium scrap and increasing the recycling rate, ALRO reduces its dependence on the supplied electricity, as the energy consumption for the supplementary recycled quantities decreases by 95% compared with the electrolytic aluminium. In this way, ALRO is increasing its competitiveness by using the best available technologies, which are in line with the EU requirements for the creation of one circular, sustainable aluminium industry.

Alro’s investments in product technology have pushed the firm to reach an energy efficiency of 99%  for electrolysis technology and according to studies; it will be in top 4 at European level in terms of energy efficiency in the electrolysis area. As part of the same program to streamline activity and reuse resources, the Company has implemented various projects that have improved the water management system, optimized water production and treatment and made it possible to reuse almost 90% of used water.

As one of the largest contributor to the economy of Romania, Alro Group shoulder a particular responsibility for the society and for this reason management has a comprehensive approach towards sustainability across the entire value chain. Therefore, Alro seeks to ensure an ethical, safe and healthy local business environment, having over 3,600 suppliers at Group level.

The Group's sourcing activity yearly generates significant expenditures that are mainly redirected locally, thus ensuring the wealth of the communities where the Group activates. Moreover, in the COVID-19 context, the Group reaffirmed its commitment towards the society, employees and their families and made several donations in money and medical equipment to both local and national institutions involved in preventing and fighting against the coronavirus spreading.

Willing to follow with the changing European legislation and to meet its stakeholders' expectations, Alro included not only the activities and achievements in the ESG field mentioned above but also its aspirations to become a green, innovative factory in its 2019 Consolidated Sustainable Value Report.