

Embracing the concept of sustainability for a business, first of all, means showing responsibility.
For our owners, we have a responsibility to deliver value. For our employees, we aim to offer reliable employment, fair working conditions, and a safe work environment. For our customers, we are responsible for the quality of our products and services, meaning meeting the customers’ specifications related to alloy type, chemistry, quantity, and time of delivery. Additionally, we recognize our responsibility to prevent the waste of natural resources and energy as well as to carefully manage our emissions and releases into the environment. These are mere starting points for a long journey. But we see our entire industry transforming from being cost-orientated to sustainability-orientated - a transformation demanded by both society and customers.
At REAL ALLOY, our mission is to capture the inherent economic value of recycled aluminum by offering environmentally responsible processing solutions.
We understand today’s imperative for sustainable resources and are proud to supply our customers with high-quality recycled aluminum. In comparison to primary aluminum the production of our alloys requires much less energy and results in far lower CO2 emissions.
This process-based advantage is complemented by continual improvement of our operations, efficient and intelligent sourcing, and development alongside the entire recycling value chain. These efforts will help us to further reduce our ecological footprint and to successfully work towards sustainability.
Terrance J. Hogan
PRESIDENT AND CEO
This report is our first sustainability report developed to meet the requirements of the Aluminum Stewardship Initiative (ASI). REAL ALLOY became a Production and Transformation member of ASI in November 2019, and we certified our Deizisau, Germany facility to the ASI Performance Standard in 2021. We now aim to achieve our first North American certification at our Coldwater, Michigan locations.
This report uses the ASI Performance Standard with its three overall chapters of Environment, Social and Governance as a reference and covers REAL ALLOY’s operations in North America. Our headquarters is in Beachwood, OH. Data provided in this report is for calendar year 2021, unless stated otherwise.
REAL ALLOY is a global company that operates North American and European business units. In this report, “REAL ALLOY” only refers to the REAL ALLOY North American business unit, unless stated otherwise.

REAL ALLOY is a market leader in third-party aluminum recycling and specification alloy production. We convert aluminum scrap and by-products into reusable aluminum metal for a growing number of applications across various industries.
Our customers can choose from an extensive range of cast and wrought alloys made from aluminum scrap and metal, delivered to their door in the form of molten metal, Recycled Secondary Ingots (RSI), small ingots, or cones. With sixteen production facilities in three countries in North America, REAL ALLOY is ideally
positioned to respond to the needs of an increasingly recycling-conscious world. Advanced technologies enable us to process a large variety of scrap types. Therefore, our products are manufactured with low CO2 footprints. This report summarizes the efforts towards sustainability at REAL ALLOY.
REAL ALLOY’s employees are spread across sixteen production sites and the headquarters in North America, yet they are all united by the REAL ALLOY mission: to responsibly capture the inherent economic value of aluminum recycling solutions. We share a passion for excellence and are committed to integrity and accountability. At each site, our teams foster an environment of trust and empowerment, where good ideas are encouraged, and setbacks are viewed as learning opportunities. Always tuned in to the bigger picture, we are motivated by a strong sense of responsibility towards our colleagues, customers, suppliers, other business partners, and our communities.

Our values define what we stand for. In addition, our policies provide a framework and direction and set clear expectations on an ethical and responsible approach to business, not only for all our managers and employees, but also for our suppliers. They describe how we operate and what we expect from ourselves. Among these REAL ALLOY policies are:
Respect for human rights, including women ́s rights and labor rights, is important to our corporate culture. We have a clear commitment to legal compliance and strictly oppose any form of discrimination, harassment, child labor or forced labor, or any other un-ethical behavior. By joining the ASI in November 2019, we have made a clear commitment towards sustainability.
To this end we have strengthened our organization by allocating additional resources to both sustainability and environmental groups.
Sustainability means meeting the needs of today without jeopardizing the needs of future generations. Effective energy and resource management are keys to protecting the environment and limiting climate impacts. Leveraging the inherent benefits of aluminum recycling, we provide a low-carbon material solution. REAL ALLOY is committed to improving the impacts of our operations as we embrace a sustainable vision with our customers.
Terrance J. Hogan
PRESIDENT AND CEO

We seek to outperform our competition fairly and honestly. We seek competitive advantages through superior performance and our processes, never through unethical or illegal business practices.















All employees are invited and expected to actively contribute to an environmentally compliant and safe workplace by following safety, health and environmental rules and practices, and immediately reporting all incidents that impact or may impact our people and the environment. All employees have stop work authority if they believe they or others are at risk while at work. REAL ALLOY wants it clearly understood that all its directors, officers, employees, and agents are expected to adhere to the company’s Code of Conduct. Those who violate the standards of the code are subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.
The effectiveness and appropriateness of the management systems are reviewed and monitored through structured and regular meetings involving all levels of the company. Regular business and operations reviews, and dedicated HSEQ and project management reviews, are complemented by team, functional, and cross functional meetings. These follow standardized reporting formats and are, where necessary, amended by ad hoc reports and information to senior management and all responsible managers of operational and functional units.
REAL ALLOY’s Supplier Sustainability Policy was developed according to industry guidelines, particularly those provided by ASI. The policy outlines our expectations for how suppliers conduct their businesses in a responsible and ethical manner. It covers the following principles:
- Suppliers are expected to comply with all applicable laws and regulations. They should not engage or be complicit in any form of bribery or corruption.
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Respect for human and labor rights is essential to REAL ALLOY. Our suppliers are expected to respect these values, including
- Non-discrimination
- Prevention of forced labour, child labour and human trafficking
- Compliance with legal requirements on working hours, wages and benefits
- Rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining
- Not contributing to armed conflict or human rights abuses in Conflict-Affected or High-Risk Areas
- Suppliers are expected to offer a safe and healthy work environment that complies with applicable laws and regulations and follows recognized standards in their respective industries.
- Suppliers are expected to avoid adverse environmental impacts, which includes plans to
- Reduce emissions, including greenhouse gas emissions
- Minimize waste and landfill, while maximizing recycling
- Enhance resource and energy efficiency
- Reduce water consumption and adverse impacts on waterbodies
- They should carefully manage the use of hazardous chemicals and comply with all applicable requirements like REACh, RoHS, etc. Suppliers are encouraged to implement appropriate management systems.
- Within their scope of activities, suppliers are expected to take adequate preventive measures to protect privacy of personal data of employees, customers, and other business partners.
REAL ALLOY’s corporate culture embodies the principles of transparency and respect for others. Our ability to operate efficiently and sustainably in the North American market requires consistent and professional communication. We adhere, therefore, to the principles of transparency, honesty and accountability when interacting with our stakeholders.
This 2021 Sustainability Report marks a new level of transparency as REAL ALLOY aligns to the reporting requirements detailed by the ASI.

Aluminum is a light material with a high degree of strength. It is corrosion-resistant, an excellent conductor of heat, and easily molded and processed. These qualities make aluminum suitable for intelligent product solutions and commercial applications.

REAL ALLOY’s recycling of aluminum into new input materials for industrial production is an important contribution towards a circular economy. Recycling helps preserve natural resources and minerals as well as energy while maintaining highest quality of the recycled products.

REAL ALLOY is member of various trade associations within the aluminum recycling industries. This includes memberships with the Aluminum Association (AA), the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), and the American Foundry Society (AFS).
Members of the management team and corporate experts participate in committees and task forces, engage in relevant discussions, and contribute to sharing and learning efforts. We report data and information to these associations to support industry wide efforts toward improved transparency and sustainability.
With decades of experience, state-of-the-art technologies, and the constant development of new and environmentally friendly processes, REAL ALLOY can provide the best possible aluminum recycling solutions, while consuming as little energy and as few additives as possible. The low-energy footprint, in comparison with primary metals, has also reduced the carbon footprint of our metal. Recycled aluminum is therefore ideal for all customers aiming to reduce the carbon and climate impact in their supply chain. As a member of the Aluminum Association (AA), REAL ALLOY actively participated and contributed to AA ́s work around a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for aluminum.

REAL ALLOY offers long-standing experience, the required know-how and state-of-the-art technology for sourcing and processing these scrap types. We are familiar with the main challenges around processing such scrap, for example due to contamination from other materials or varying alloy compositions in scraps from different uses. Our sampling and testing routines are designed to control the remelting process and the product quality levels closely.

As a recycler of aluminum scrap, our business model revolves around resource efficiency, environmental protection, and energy management. The focus of our operations is reclaiming valuable metal from waste and returning it back into the cycle of valuable products.
There are substantial energy savings associated with our recycling of aluminum scrap and drosses in 2021, where we produced over 566,000 metric tons of aluminum alloys. Compared to the average carbon footprint of primary aluminum used in North America (7.2 kg CO2/kg Al for Scopes 1 and 2, according to the Aluminum Association, The Environmental Footprint of Semi-Fabricated Aluminum Products in North America, Life Cycle Assessment Report 2022), the amount of aluminum recycled by REAL ALLOY in 2021 saved more than 3,842,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions.
For us at REAL ALLOY, CO2 emissions are generated primarily from our use of natural gas in our furnaces, heating stations, and other similar equipment. Therefore, the reduction of natural gas consumption has the largest impact on our CO2 emissions. Since natural gas usage represents the overwhelming part of our energy cost, reducing our usage is also an important driver for the financial success of our company.
REAL ALLOY personnel, in cooperation with other aluminum and supplier organizations, are investigating the possibility of using Hydrogen gas as a carbon-free energy source for melting aluminum. While adoption of this technology is many years away, the groundwork for a greener future is being laid today.
Our greenhouse gas emissions are represented as CO2-equivalent emissions, covering scope 1 (direct emissions from the use of fossil fuels in our own installations and equipment) and scope 2 (emissions from externally sourced electricity), as defined in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
Scope 1 covers emissions from the use of natural gas as well as diesel or propane consumption by our forklifts, wheel loaders, and internal mobile equipment. Scope 2 covers purchased electricity. The data are based on information from REAL ALLOY’s accounting systems. The emission factors are taken from the Environmental Protection Agency.

- Particulates generated from handling dusty materials prior to processing and residuals generated after process controls
- Products of combustion from the natural gas based combustion processes
- Hydrogen chloride (HCl) and hydrogen fluoride (HF) derived from the flux (chloride and fluoride salts) used in our furnaces and from organic contaminants in some scraps
- Chlorine (Cl2), used to refine our metal according to customer specifications
- Traces of dioxins and furanes (PCDD/PCDF) from the thermal treatment of scrap which is contaminated with organics
The vast majority of REAL ALLOY’s input material is scrap:
- Production scrap – like drosses, skimmings, turnings, foil and sheet scrap, casting scraps, etc.
- Post-consumer scrap – like used beverage cans (UBC), scrap from construction applications, shredded automobiles, etc.
Another waste type we manage is filter dust. Filter dust is generated by our filter systems, which control and reduce the emissions from our operations to legally permissible levels according to our permits. The majority of the filter dust is landfilled.

REAL ALLOY’s employees are spread across sixteen production sites and the headquarters in North America, yet they are all united by the REAL ALLOY mission: to responsibly capture the inherent economic value of aluminum recycling solutions. We share a passion for excellence and are committed to integrity and accountability. At each site, our teams foster an environment of trust and empowerment, where good ideas are encouraged, and setbacks are viewed as learning opportunities. Always tuned in to the bigger picture, we are motivated by a strong sense of responsibility towards our colleagues, customers, suppliers, other business partners, and our communities.
We have a clear commitment to legal compliance and strictly oppose any form of discrimination and harassment, child labor or forced labor or any other un-ethical behavior. All our plants are located in the United States, Canada, or Mexico. All these countries maintain the highest human rights standards in their legal frameworks and are signatories to the relevant human rights related declarations of the United Nations. Society and the general public also show strong engagement in all human rights related matters and questions. Within that framework and based on our own Code of Conduct, compliance with human rights is a must-have for our organization. We also expect our business partners and our suppliers to fully observe human rights.
Our goal is to continually increase the share of female representation at all levels of the organization. We support the career development of women at all levels. In 2021 the proportion of women in leadership roles was 22 percent.
...cultures:
Cultural diversity is a part of everyday working life at Real Alloy. Awareness of different value systems and their influence on our daily behavior helps to meet the challenges of mixed teams.
...generations:
We encourage learning across all generations. We promote knowledge transfer and a change of perspective between experienced and less experienced employees. Demographic analysis helps us to understand the challenges we may be facing in the future and plan activities to prevent any workforce shortage.



REAL ALLOY’s management and employees place the utmost importance on the protection of health and safety. REAL ALLOY deploys a management system that is founded on the ISO 45001 framework.
We incorporate occupational health and safety considerations into all our operational activities and decisions. “Zero injuries” is our ultimate goal and the driver of our ongoing efforts to improve our health and safety performance, which have so far resulted in injury rates that are lower than the secondary aluminum industry’s average. Beyond the immediate efforts regarding safety in the workplace, we also promote safe practices and behaviors outside of work and offer programs for preventative health care and well-being.
2019: IIR – 2.24, DAWR – 1.07
2020: IIR – 1.38, DAWR – 0.92
2021: IIR – 2.48, DAWR – 1.38