Australian manufacturer DECO which provides specialised aluminium building products and protective metal coatings, have partnered with Capral Aluminium in an industry-leading decision to switch 100 per cent of their Capral aluminium purchases over to LocAl® Green – Capral’s lower Carbon aluminium option.
As a specialist supplier of aluminium building products, DECO has long been ahead of the curve, introducing industry-leading technology and processes into its business to ensure it remains at the forefront of innovation and market leadership.
When Capral Introduced LocAl in November 2022 it was the first Australian aluminium supplier to make Lower carbon aluminium options available to its customers. The Capral LocAl offer includes two lower carbon aluminium options: LocAl Green with carbon emissions of 8kg CO2e/kg Al* and LocAl Super Green at 4kg CO2e/kg Al* – amongst the lowest carbon aluminium available globally.
Capral’s General Manager of Industrial and Procurement Luke Hawkins spoke about the partnership.
“The DECO leadership team were in touch with Capral within days of the LocAl offer being introduced,” Hawkins said.
“We have worked together to ensure we can support DECO on their sustainability journey and have agreed to supply LocAl Green across all the locally extruded aluminium products DECO purchases from us. For Capral this is what it’s all about, making it possible for Australian manufacturers to make responsible and sustainable procurement decisions around Aluminium”.
For DECO, Capral’s Lower Carbon aluminium option provided an opportunity to support responsible procurement and sustainability initiatives across their business. The decision to move all their aluminium purchases to LocAl Green is unsurprising given their commitment to sustainability and market leadership.
DECO General Manager Richard Hamber unpacked the arrangement.
“The agreement is an important part of DECO’s ongoing Sustainability Framework, which has a core environmental focus of reducing carbon emissions across our entire business and product offering.” Hamber said.
“This switch to LocAl Green aluminium will allow DECO to meet the growing customer demand to provide better sustainable outcomes across the architectural and building industry.”
For DECO LocAl Green was an obvious choice making it possible to reduce the embodied carbon in the aluminium they procure whilst maintaining their existing supplier relationship and without any additional impact on the production process or supply chain.
“One simple decision to change how we purchase aluminium within our business could save up to 4400 tonnes of carbon annually” added Hamber.
Much of the product DECO supply ends up in the built environment where carbon has become a critical concern as architects, builders, and developers look for ways to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with construction.
It is estimated that the embodied carbon emissions of materials used in Australian construction are 30 to 50 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per year (for domestic production), approximately five to ten per cent of national greenhouse gas emissions. These numbers are hard to ignore. As architects, building designers, developers, and industry become increasingly aware of the embodied carbon issue, demand for lower-carbon building products will continue to rise.
The main contribution to the carbon emissions of aluminium comes from the electrolysis process used in aluminium smelting. Around 60 per cent of the aluminium sector’s GHG emissions are from the production of electricity consumed during the aluminium smelting process.
The carbon emissions in primary aluminium production range from under 4kg CO2e/kg Al to over 20kg CO2e/kg Al, largely dependent upon the energy sources used. The current global average carbon emission for primary aluminium is approximately 16.8 kg CO2e/kg Al.*
Capral’s Luke Hawkins comments, “At eight kilograms of carbon emissions per kilogram of aluminium, the LocAl Green offer has 50 per cent lower carbon emissions than the current global average for primary aluminium. It is a great step forward for DECO”
In addition to lower carbon emissions, the primary aluminium Capral offers under the LocAl brand is sourced exclusively from Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) certified smelters. Both DECO and Capral are also members of ASI.
ASI is a global non-profit organisation that brings producers, users, and stakeholders together in the aluminium value chain. ASI members are committed to the responsible procurement and sustainable production of aluminium. This globally recognised organisation has become the cornerstone of sustainable aluminium procurement for the world’s leading aluminium organisations delivering robust standards and transparency. Capral joined ASI in July 2022 and DECO followed shortly after in March 2023.
Prime Minister, the hon Anthony Albanese MP was present for the announcement of this industry-leading move to switch 100 per cent of DECO’s Aluminium supply from Capral to lower-carbon Aluminium on Friday at the official opening of the DECO Innovation Centre.
DECO will start receiving the supply of LocAl Green lower-carbon aluminium from June 2023.
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