Aluminum industry vows to go greener

MONTREAL, QUEBEC - Quebec's aluminum companies said they're well on their way to meet their commitments to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

Representatives of the major aluminum companies and Quebec Environment Minister Line Beauchamp announced they had signed an agreement to cut the equivalent of 150,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year from 2008 to 2012. The reductions are to be verified by external auditors.

"This is a good story to tell," Beauchamp said. "It shows that companies can become more environmentally friendly and it can result in economic benefits."

The aluminum industry in Quebec emits the equivalent of 2.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, so the reduction represents about six per cent of the total emissions.

Since 1990, Quebec companies have reduced their overall carbon footprint by about 10 per cent, largely by updating to more energy-efficient equipment.

John Bennett, executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada, commended aluminum companies for their efforts, but said the technology to save electricity has been around for several years.

"It should have been mandated a long time ago, but the aluminum companies are very powerful," Bennett said. "We're very pleased that they're finally going to do it. We'll be watching carefully that they'll meet their targets."

Bennett said he's pleased the aluminum industry is actively working to reduce greenhouse gases, and other industries should follow suit.

Aluminum requires a lot of electricity to produce, so the industry benefits every time it becomes more energy efficient, said Jean Simon, North American president of Rio Tinto Alcan Primary Metal.

He said new factories consume about half as much electricity as the old ones and produce about 40 per cent more aluminum.

Simon added recycling old aluminum also helps reduce emissions, since it takes about a tenth of the energy to recycle aluminum than producing it for the first time.