June 2024 | Aluminium and renewable energy company, Hydro, has set a new standard by publishing detailed environmental data for its operations across the U.S. and Canada. The company’s Extrusion North America business released Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for 22 manufacturing sites, a move verified by independent auditors.
Over the past year, Hydro Extrusion North America business unit collaborated with a life cycle assessment (LCA) expert, Ecoinnovazione, on LCA studies for each of its manufacturing sites. After aggregating the LCA data into individual EPDs, the reports underwent rigorous third-party verification by UL Solutions, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the data.
In total, the company analyzed 50 different product configurations, publishing 33 individual EPD reports. Hydro is the first extrusion company in North America to provide this level of detail on the impact of its production processes.
“Hydro is taking a proactive stance to provide clear, quantifiable data about the environmental footprint of our products. The scope and scale of this effort clearly demonstrates our commitment to transparency, sustainability, and continuous improvement. We believe that informed stakeholders can better understand the value of lower-carbon, recycled aluminium in their supply chain and make more sustainable choices,” says Jerrod Hoeft, Vice President of Commercial Transportation and Sustainability at Hydro Extrusion North America.
Rather than relying on aggregated industry data, the company chose a more thorough approach, developing individual EPDs with data from each manufacturing site and process. Despite the increased time and cost, this strategy enhances data transparency and enables end users to calculate the footprint of their aluminium supply chain more accurately. The LCA data shows the average calculated CO2e footprint of Hydro’s extrusion operations to be 34 percent lower than the North American industry average,* a clear advantage for manufacturers looking to source greener materials.
EPDs are technical documents that describe the potential environmental impact of products throughout their lifecycle. Architects, engineers, and designers across a wide range of industries use EPDs to better understand the footprint of their products and make sourcing decisions. The full list of Hydro Extrusion North America’s EPDs can be found here.
*Based on the CO2e values for mill finish aluminium extrusions utilizing “cut-off” scrap valuation methodology. Comparison is between the weighted average CO2e values published in 2022 by the U.S. Aluminum Extruders Council and the recently published Hydro Extrusion North America weighted average CO2e values.
Background
Hydro is the largest aluminium extrusion company in North America with twenty production sites throughout the U.S., three in Canada, and two in Mexico. The company’s extrusion business area has operations covering aluminium extrusion, precision tubing, fabrication, surface treatment and recycling. Hydro’s Aluminium Metal business also operates three aluminum recycling plants in the U.S.
