Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Sector Focus: Specialties

Novelis’ Specialties group has a diverse portfolio that includes consumer electronics, architecture and building materials, industrial equipment and more. Across all these markets, demand for aluminum is increasing, driven by a variety of factors – not least of which is sustainability. Electronics manufacturers, for example, value aluminum’s light weight, recyclability and recycled content – especially important where there are product take-back laws. In architecture and building, aluminum enables architects to bring innovative designs to life, while also improving the durability and efficiency of buildings and increasing recycled content – a key requirement for achieving many “green building” certifications.

Recycled materials used for a roof Photo: Novelis shines at 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

We’re Adding… Innovations in Design and Applications

Our technical group works closely with our specialties customers to design aluminum components that can be substituted for parts previously made of other materials – helping improve performance and durability and reduce weight. In 2014, for example, we debuted new high-strength aluminum sandwich panels – commonly used for exterior building walls and roofs – that weigh only one-third as much as steel and resist corrosion and discoloration.

Life Cycle Thinking

We are innovating to provide our customers with aluminum for their products made with alloys containing more recycled content – and that are more easily recycled at the product’s end of life. For example, we have begun testing a new design that will enable us to increase the use of recycled inputs from 25% to 80% in a range of applications, from electronics to architecture, while still meeting our customers’ alloy specifications.

We’re Creating… More Sustainable Products

We’re helping customers make their products lighter, not only by substituting aluminum for other materials, but also by downgauging the aluminum we provide – meaning we use less material, with no sacrifice to performance. And with aluminum’s recyclability – and Novelis’ ever-increasing use of recycled content – we are providing our customers with products that have a lower carbon footprint, use less energy to transport, take fewer resources to produce, and create less waste at the end of their life.

Safer Products

We are researching ways to make products safer, such as finding alternatives to materials identified as potentially hazardous that are used in food contact aluminum applications. For example, we developed an alternative to BPA, a substance found in coatings and banned in France starting in 2015, to coat our finished food serving trays and lids. We commercialized this new technology, which was then adopted by Air France for use in their food trays.

Creating a Carbon-Neutral City

Sønderborg, Denmark, has set a goal of becoming a CO2-neutral city – and Novelis aluminum is going to help the city achieve it. As part of the effort, renowned architect Frank Gehry designed the new “Kontor C” office building, which features a 4,000-square-meter façade made from Novelis pre-painted aluminum ff2®. The material was chosen based on its 100% recyclability, durability and recycled content. Compared to other metals, Novelis’ ff2 aluminum is easy for architects and builders to use due to its excellent workability and mechanical properties. Novelis is proud to have created such a reliable and environmentally friendly material that is making its mark on sustainable cities around the world.