Sustainability

• About this report
• Governance
• Sustainability & Alumina
• Environment
  • Energy
  • Emissions
  • Water
  • Land and biodiversity
  • Waste
  • Alumina Limited’s results
• Employees & Community
• Economic contribution
• AWAC’s global operations
• GRI Index

Water

 Water is an essential raw material, used at every point of AWAC’s mining, refining and smelting operations such as: 

• bauxite ore refining into alumina 
• dust suppression, road watering and vehicle and equipment cleaning  throughout mining operations
• ingot-casting process during smelting. 

Effective water management is essential not just only to minimise risk and ensure business continuity, it is also integral to ensuring AWAC’s ‘license to operate” continues from local and global communities with the global water challenge becoming more complex due to:  

• growing populations
• expanding urbanisation 
• increasing agricultural and industrial sectors. 

Alumina Limited believes that solutions to global water management issues require future technology advances combined with full community, government and business involvement and cooperation. 

Water security  

Water scarcity has the potential to impact AWAC’s costs, production volume and financial performance.  Most material to Alumina Limited are AWAC’s operations in Western Australia , which is recognised as a region subject to water-stress, having experienced changing rainfall patterns in recent years.  

Alcoa of Australia (AofA) has undertaken several initiatives to conserve water, increase water efficiency and reduce water quality requirements, which include:  

• Pursing secondary sources of water as an alternative to fresh water used in several refining processes.
• Projects aimed at recycling water already used in processing  to reduce total water withdrawals.
• Projects evaluating applications to slow evaporation of stored water.
• Increasing pasture coverage on and around bauxite residue areas at Wagerup Refinery to supress dust and remove needs for water sprinklers. 

Results and goals

In 2010, total known water withdrawal* from AWAC's worldwide operations was 38.3 million megalitres of freshwater.

Using 2005 as a baseline, Alcoa has established a global target to reduce average freshwater intensity by 10 per cent by 2020 and 25 per cent by 2030.  

*Processes for collecting the data on a global level do not exist currently however we are able to provide the above known information on withdrawn water.