Trade group Aluminium Stewardship Initiative announced last week the certification of Schüco International KG (Schüco) of its sites in Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and France under the ASI Chain of Custody Standard V1 (2017). The sites were previously certified under the ASI’s Performance Standard (Material Stewardship) for aluminium products destined for the building sector.
Fiona Solomon, Chief Executive Officer at ASI said in a press release that the dual certifications show the firm’s commitment to sustainability.
“We congratulate Schüco on achieving Chain of Custody Standard Certification at these five facilities. Building system elements — doors, windows, and façades — such as those manufactured by Schüco are essential to the sustainability performance of the built environment during their use phase. They are also relevant to a number of key criteria in green building certifications including sustainable procurement and life cycle impact, which extend beyond a building’s use phase. In this sense, a growing number of green building certification schemes are recognizing the relevance to their criteria of the ASI Standards, and for manufacturers of building components, dual ASI Certification can provide a clear demonstration of the sustainability credentials of their production process and their products.”
ASI’s Performance Standard is the product of consultations with a multitude of stakeholders throughout the aluminium value chain, which ASI asserts is the sole comprehensive voluntary sustainability standard initiative in the aluminium sector. The standard defines 59 criteria categorized in three sustainability pillars that cover several issues, including biodiversity, Indigenous Peoples rights, and greenhouse gas emissions. The certifications, which each last for three years, were audited by GUTcert (AFNOR Group).
Andreas Engelhardt, CEO at Schüco said that the ASI certifications demonstrated the firm’s commitment to responsible aluminium production.
“Schüco’s goal is to ensure the protection of human rights and the environment along the entire value chain and to ensure a responsible supply chain. Certification to the ASI Chain of Custody Standard is a big step in the right direction in this respect and we are very pleased to be able to offer ASI-certified aluminium to our customers in the future too.”
The ASI is a worldwide organization dedicated to setting industrial standards and certifications in the aluminium industry. The association brings together the various stakeholders in the aluminium industry in order to achieve objectives including sustainable production methods, material chain-of-custody procedures, recycling, social impacts related to aluminium production, and production standards.