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Sustainability
Sustainability and environmental management are part of everyday life at McKechnie®.
Sustainability
Sustainability and environmental management are part of everyday life at McKechnie®.
Sustainability is embedded across our operations and business model. As a New Zealand aluminium extruder, we are committed to lower-carbon aluminium manufacturing, responsible resource use and recyclable aluminium solutions that support a more sustainable future.
Our product carbon footprint has been third-party certified by Toitū, giving customers confidence that McKechnie® is a New Zealand-made, low-carbon aluminium option with higher recycled content.
A sustainable choice for your aluminium extrusion
89% less carbon emitted per kg than other aluminium extruders globally*
McKechnie® is the only New Zealand aluminium extruder to achieve Toitū carbonreduce product certification.
*Achieving a carbon footprint (Scope 1 & 2*) of 1.31kg of CO2e per kg of aluminium which is 89% better than the global average of 11.5kg^ of CO2e per kg of aluminium. (Full Life Cycle is 8.13kg of CO2e per kg of aluminium. ^Source: Rio Tinto)
Key to our business
We view everything we do through a sustainability lens. From aluminium extrusion to using recycled aluminium, environmental stewardship is central to our ethos. We work to minimise our environmental footprint while maintaining the quality and performance McKechnie® is known for.
Aluminium - sustainable by nature
Aluminium is infinitely recyclable. It is a durable, lightweight material that can be melted down and reformed again and again without losing its structural integrity or durability. Almost 75% of all aluminium ever produced is still being recycled and used today, making recyclable aluminium an important material for more sustainable manufacturing and design.
Unique recycling facility in New Zealand
McKechnie® is the only aluminium extruder in New Zealand to have a scrap aluminium recycling facility – our remelt casthouse. Remelting scrap aluminium uses only around 5% of the energy required to create virgin aluminium. This allows us to manufacture aluminium extrusion products with higher recycled content and a lower carbon footprint.
Always improving
The concept of recycle, reuse and reduce is central to our aluminium extrusion processes. This commitment has helped guide our journey toward Telarc ISO 14001 certification and Toitū enviromark diamond third-party certification.
We are also the only New Zealand aluminium extruder to achieve third-party Toitū carbonreduce product certification, which meets the requirements of ISO 14067:2018, one of the world’s recognised environmental standards for product carbon footprint assessment.
Our extruded aluminium products have achieved both Toitū carbonreduce and Toitū enviromark diamond certifications. We are proud of this progress, but we also recognise that aluminium sustainability is an ongoing journey. We continue to explore ways to reduce emissions, increase recycled content and improve environmental performance across our operations.
Embedded in our community
Having sustainability as an integral business value makes business decisions clearer. Maintaining our environmental protection programmes benefits our customers, employees, local community and wider industry.
Our Environmental Management System requires dedicated staff to manage environmental matters. We have a full-time technical services manager on site to drive continuous improvement in environmental performance and support our ongoing commitment to achieving our environmental objectives.
We work closely with key external stakeholders, including the Taranaki Regional Council and New Plymouth District Council, to manage compliance with resource consents and approvals, and to meet all legal and statutory requirements.
Our people value the environment
Our employees are trained to recognise the importance of their individual contribution to our environmental systems and overall environmental performance. Environmental leadership, management and protection are embedded in our business, helping promote environmental awareness throughout everyday operations.
Scope 1 & 2 Emissions
As part of our commitment to operate a low-carbon aluminium business, we measure our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions and make every effort to keep these emissions to a minimum in our day-to-day operations.
Scope 1 emissions
Scope 1 emissions come directly from company operations, including transport, manufacturing and processing emissions. Examples include fuel combustion in boilers, furnaces and vehicles.
Scope 2 emissions
Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions from purchased energy used to run business operations. This can include electricity, steam and greenhouse gas emissions related to heating and cooling facilities.