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.
Novelis President and COO Philip Martens will accept the 24th
annual Vision for America Award on behalf of the company and its
employees on October 21 at a dinner at Atlanta's Fernbank Museum of
Natural History.
"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 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. We're proud to honor Novelis for
its important contributions to corporate social
responsibility."
"Novelis and Keep America Beautiful share the mission of
engaging individuals to protect the environment and beautify their
neighborhoods through recycling. We appreciate their recognition of
our work," said Martens.
Another factor 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 salutes Novelis for taking its role as a
significant corporate citizen seriously through its ongoing
commitment to the environment and communities.
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