Pollution Prevention Planning

Overview
While containing and treating pollution and waste is important, industries and regulators have increasingly recognized the more fundamental importance of reducing the amount generated in the first place.

Alcan B.C. has been systematically pursuing this objective – through a pollution prevention or “P2 Planning” process – for more than a decade. Building from a successful demonstration project in 1996, Alcan B.C. pioneered full-scale P2 planning for its smelter operations for 1999-2004.

It is pursuing a second five-year P2 plan, for 2004-2009, which has been extended to all of Alcan B.C.’s facilities, rather than the smelter alone. The P2 planning process is believed to have played a significant role in the more than 60 per cent reduction in environmental permit non-compliances achieved at the Kitimat smelter between 1996 and 2006.

The Process
P2 plans are developed through “process mapping,” which involves a detailed review of material use, and processes and outputs, in each of the various operating units.

Through process mapping, specific improvement opportunities and information gaps are identified. The P2 plan defines targets and timelines relating to each opportunity and gap. Often, this involves quantified reductions in the output of a particular substance.

There has been extensive public involvement in Alcan B.C.’s P2 planning. A diverse local public advisory committee (PAC) provided input on the development of the both P2 plans, particularly with respect to prioritizing improvement opportunities.

Regulatory Improvement
It was largely on the strength of Alcan B.C.’s voluntary P2 efforts that the Province of British Columbia issued, in 1999, a “multi-media” environmental permit to the company for its smelter operations. This was the first such permit ever issued in B.C.

The permit establishes standards, and monitoring and reporting requirements, for a comprehensive range of emissions, effluents, and wastes. It replaced a large number of narrower permits. Alcan B.C. sees the permit as a better basis for more results-based environmental management, and improved compliance monitoring and transparency.

P2 Documentation and Disclosure
The following documents were presented at PAC workshops and other public consultations held in connection with the development of the P2 plan for 2004-2009.

P2 Agenda & Objectives 04Nov16.pdf
P2 Completion Report Presentation 04Nov16.pdf
P2 Environmental Baseline Study 04Nov16.pdf
P2 Proposal 04Nov16.pdf
P2 Workshop Intro 04Nov16.pdf
P2 Poster Book Nov2004.pdf

The following emissions, effluents, wastes, and consumption levels all either relate to or have been the subject of P2 targets. Brief context relating to each of these parameters is provided below. Click on the name of the parameter to see results since 1995 (in most cases) and relevant targets and permit limits. Further context – with respect to recent performance and improvement initiatives – is available in Alcan B.C.’s annual performance reports.

Parameter	Description
Dissolved Fluoride, B-Lagoon Dissolved Fluoride Loadings, B-Lagoon Dissolved Fluoride, D-Lagoon Dissolved Fluoride Loadings, D-Lagoon*	Dissolved fluoride originates mainly from the leaching of an on-site landfill, as well as from raw-material losses and fallout from uncaptured fluoride emissions. (The landfill is no longer used, and ongoing storm water diversion work will reduce leaching from it.)
Dissolved Aluminum, B-Lagoon Dissolved Aluminum Loadings, B-Lagoon Dissolved Aluminum, D-Lagoon Dissolved Aluminum Loadings, D-Lagoon*	Dissolved aluminum originates when alumina comes into contact with precipitation, and also through uncaptured “scrubbed alumina” in emissions (alumina used in a process to control fluoride emissions).
Hydrogen Fluoride Roof Emissions	HF room emissions are known to have limited impacts on vegetation health in the vicinity of the smelter, although ongoing monitoring confirms that vegetation health is generally good and improving.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions	There are a variety of sources of GHG emissions at Alcan B.C. facilities, the majority of which relate to the aluminum smelting process itself. Reductions are a major focal point across Alcan’s global operations.
Anode Carbon Consumption	Anode carbon consumption is among the process-related contributors to greenhouse gas emissions at the Kitimat smelter. (See above.)
Chlorine Consumption	Chlorine is used during casting to ensure the purity of alloys. Consumption is monitored given the potential impacts of chlorine gas on vegetation in the immediately surrounding area. (A replacement for chlorine gas is currently under assessment.)
Spent Potlining	SPL is composed of solid materials used to line the pots or cells in which aluminum is produced, and is a hazardous waste. Alcan B.C. ships all SPL offsite as it is generated, for disposal in a secure landfill, and is working to reduce generation per tonne of production.
Dross	Dross is a solid recyclable waste produced during the fluxing process by which impurities are removed from aluminum. Although hazardous, it also contains recoverable aluminum. Alcan B.C. ships its dross to a recycling facility in the United States.

* The diversion of D-Lagoon to B-Lagoon was completed in March, 2002, and the outfall is now used only in the event of overflow conditions. Reporting specific to D-Lagoon was discontinued at that point.