Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto Group announced the certification of BC Works smelter and Kemano Power Operations in Kitimat, British Columbia against the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative’s (ASI) Chain of Custody standard. As a result, the entirety of Rio Tinto’s operations in Canada are now certified to ASI’s standards.
Rio Tinto says the certification is proof positive of the company’s commitment to responsible production, noting that the certification means the entirety of the process, from mining at Gove in Australia through refining and smelting at casthouses in Quebec and British Columbia, are now independently verified to meet sustainability standards.
“This certification continues Rio Tinto’s leadership on responsible production,” said Rio Tinto Aluminium vice president sales and marketing and ASI Board member Tolga Egrilmezer. “It increases the availability of ASI certified aluminium in a range of markets, giving customers the ability to offer end consumers products made with aluminium that meets the highest sustainability standards.”
ASI chief executive officer Fiona Solomon congratulated Rio Tinto on its continuing commitment to sustainable mining and production of aluminium.
“We applaud Rio Tinto for their commitment to ASI’s mission since joining as a founding member, and for continuing to extend the reach of their ASI certified operations. This successful Chain of Custody certification demonstrates ASI’s potential to create impact through voluntary uptake of its program. We are seeing the positive upstream examples like this one now extending into downstream aluminium use sectors such as automotive, construction and packaging, and this is very encouraging.”
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.