Alcoa Employees Mobilize Worldwide to Celebrate Eco-Holidays
Green Works Volunteer Initiative Encourages Employees to Reduce,
Recycle and Replenish
Incelebration of Earth Day, World Environment Day and Arbor Day,
thousands of Alcoa employees worldwide will volunteer to reduce their
carbon footprint, recycle to save energy, and plant trees to replenish
the environment from April 21 to June 21, as part of Alcoa Foundation′s Green
Worksinitiative.
'Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do at Alcoa,? said
Paula Davis, Alcoa Foundation President. 'Green Works aims to get our
employees and their families involved in greening their communities and
encourages them to become environmental ambassadors.?
As a part of Green Works, Alcoa Foundation has created the 'Imagine Your
World? art contest for children of Alcoa′s 59,000 employees, who will
create original artwork depicting their vision for tomorrow′s natural
environment. Eight young winners will each receive a US $5,000 grant to
their local school or a school in an underserved area.
To kick off Green Works globally, Klaus Kleinfeld, Alcoa Chairman and
CEO, will join Alcoa New York employee volunteers, City Year and The
Central Park Conservancy to revitalize infrastructure in iconic Central
Park. Alcoa will also donate 20 recycling bins to the park.
The New York event is one of hundreds of Alcoa Green Works community
service projects around the world, including:
Australia: Alcoa employees working with Greening Australia will
launch the Make an Impact energy efficiency education program in the
community of Pinjarra, Western Australia. Employees will plant over
3,500 native seedlings as part of Alcoa Australia′s annual Employee Tree
Day.
Brazil: Alcoa employees in São Paulo will partner with The Nature
Conservancy to host community workshops on recycling, reforestation and
water conservation.
China: Alcoa will partner with the Qinhuangdao Bird Watching
Association and Kunshan Charity Federation to plant nearly 2,000 trees.
Hungary: Alcoa employees will plant trees to commemorate the 125th
anniversary of the Hall-Heroult aluminum production process and the 70th
anniversary of the Alcoa Köf?location in Szekesfehervar.
Iceland: Alcoa employees will beautify and help preserve
Vatnajökull National Park.
Russia: In Belaya Kalitva, Alcoa Russia President, Andrey Donets,
will lead an education session for middle school students about the
importance of recycling. Alcoa employees will partner with the Samara
Botanical Gardens to plant trees and beautify the park.
United States: Across the country, Alcoa locations will
participate in electronics recycling drives to address the growing
challenge of e-waste over the Earth Day weekend, April 20-25.
About Green Works
The Green Works employee volunteer initiative builds on US $7 million in
environmentally focused grants that Alcoa Foundation announced earlier
this year. Since 2008, Alcoa has invested US $23 million in
environmental nonprofit organizations such as World Wildlife Fund, World
Resources Institute, Conservation International, Global ReLeaf and The
Nature Conservancy.
Some of Alcoa Foundation′s environmentally focused initiatives include:
- Ten
Million Trees, an effort to plant 10 million trees around the
world by 2020.
- Make
an Impact, an energy efficiency education program in
partnership with the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, that
includes a carbon calculator enabling people to make better
environmental choices and save money.
- Earthwatch
Institute, a hands-on training program that allows 25 Alcoa
employees to work alongside Earthwatch scientists on environmental
research projects around the world.
- Institute
for Civic Leadership, a training program for high school
students and teachers around the world that enables them to study the
environment through teamwork.
- The
Keystone Center, an institute that provides middle school
teachers with the tools and curriculum to investigate environmental
issues with their students.
- Keep
America Beautiful, recycling initiatives including the
RecycleMania college competition and the upcoming America Recycles Day.
- Aluminate,
an aluminum recycling App for iPhone that tracks the amount of cans
recycled and totals how much money they′re worth.
About Alcoa Foundation
Alcoa Foundation is one of the largest corporate foundations in the
U.S., with assets of approximately US$436 million. Founded more than 50
years ago, Alcoa Foundation has invested more than US$530 million since
1952. In 2010, Alcoa Foundation contributed nearly US$20 million to
nonprofit organizations throughout the world, focusing on promoting
environmental stewardship, enabling economic and social sustainability,
and preparing tomorrow′s leaders through education and learning. The
work of Alcoa Foundation is further enhanced by Alcoa′s thousands of
employee volunteers, who in 2010 gave more than 720,000 service
hours. Through the company′s signature Month of Service (October)
program, Alcoa employees share their energy, passion and purpose to make
a difference in our communities. In 2010, a record 49 percent of Alcoans
took part in nearly 1,000 Month of Service events across 24 countries,
reaching 59,000 children, serving 17,000 meals, planting 16,000 trees
and supporting 3,000 nonprofit organizations. For more information about
Alcoa Foundation, please access www.alcoa.com/foundation.
About Alcoa
Alcoa (NYSE:AA) is the world′s leading producer of primary and
fabricated aluminum, as well as the world′s largest miner of bauxite and
refiner of alumina. In addition to inventing the modern-day aluminum
industry, Alcoa innovation has been behind major milestones in the
aerospace, automotive, packaging, building and construction, commercial
transportation, consumer electronics and industrial markets over the
past 120 years. Among the solutions Alcoa markets are flat-rolled
products, hard alloy extrusions, and forgings, as well as Alcoa ® wheels,
fastening systems, precision and investment castings, and building
systems in addition to its expertise in other light metals such as
titanium and nickel-based super alloys. Sustainability is an integral
part of Alcoa′s operating practices and the product design and
engineering it provides to customers. Alcoa has been a member of the Dow
Jones Sustainability Index for nine consecutive years and approximately
75 percent of all of the aluminum ever produced since 1888 is still in
active use today. Alcoa employs approximately 59,000 people in 31
countries across the world. More information can be found at www.alcoa.com.
Alcoa
Investor Contact:
Roy Harvey, 212-836-2674
or
Media
Contact:
Nacema Blake, 212-836-2825
Libby Archell, 212-836-2719