The Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) announced yesterday the certification of a pair of Audi production facilities in Neckarsulm and Ingolstadt, Germany against its Chain of Custody (CoC) Standard Certification.
The rolled material press shops at those sites produce aluminium automotive parts from aluminium sheet. Audi captures the scrap aluminium from the operations and recycled, completing its closed-loop system.
Fiona Solomon, Chief Executive Officer at ASI, said the demand for sustainably sourced materials has risen in recent months.
“We warmly congratulate Audi on achieving ASI Chain of Custody Certification for these two press shop operations and becoming the first OEM to implement chain of custody in their own operations. Over the course of this year, we have noted a growing interest in downstream aluminium users to source responsibly produced aluminium for their products and to be able to demonstrate this to their customers. Paired with the company’s closed-loop scrap recycling system at these facilities, the CoC Certification enables Audi to address consumer expectations and demand for more sustainable 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 certifications, which each last for three years, were audited by DNV GL.
Dirk Gross-Loheide, Board Member for Procurement and IT at Audi AG, said his firm bore a duty to pursue sustainability.
“We are responsible for all of the people who are part of our supply chain. To future generations we owe respectful treatment of natural resources. Membership of the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative is of enormous help to us in living up to this responsibility. Resource efficiency is the key to an industry that is fit for the future.”
The ASI is a worldwide organization dedicated to setting industrial standards and certifications in the aluminium industry. The association attempts to bring 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.