Alcoa Executive Highlights Green Design Trends at GreenInfoTech Summit
NEW YORK–The growth of aluminum in consumer electronics was in the spotlight at
the GreenInfoTech Summit in Atlanta today, when Randall Scheps, Alcoa’s
Director of Consumer Electronics Market Development, addressed senior IT
executives and corporate sustainability policy makers on aluminum’s role
in the future of sustainable design.
“Alcoa recognizes that rapid growth in the consumer electronics market
creates sustainability challenges, and aluminum is part of the
solution,” said Scheps. “Not only can aluminum be recycled infinitely
without the need for downcycling, the metal’s light weight, durability,
heat conductivity and limitless surface finishes are making it a
preferred choice over plastics by designers, manufacturers and
consumers.“
Consumer electronics represents a fast-growing market for aluminum, with
the aluminum content in LCD TV’s and laptops alone expected to increase
by 465 percent and 30 percent by 2013 respectively, from a 2010 baseline.
To further close the sustainability loop, Alcoa recently took a 10
percent stake in Electronic Recyclers International (ERI), the largest
electronic waste recycler in North America. Through this partnership,
Alcoa brings recycling expertise to the growing challenge of e-waste,
enhancing the role aluminum plays in making electronics more sustainable.
The GreenInfoTech Summit was held at the Georgia Tech Global Learning
Center in Atlanta. The educational forum is aimed at senior IT and
business decision makers who are actively implementing or beginning to
formulate more sustainable computing strategies. The event is designed
to showcase thought leadership, environmentally friendly technologies,
green innovations and the latest tools and techniques.
For more information on Alcoa’s leadership in consumer electronics,
visit www.alcoa.com/con_electronics.
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.