Aurubis – the largest copper producer in Europe and the world leader in copper recycling – has been recognised by the State Authority of Urban Development and Environment (BSU) of Hamburg as an environmental partner for the initiative “Environmental Partnership: Project 2011” as part of “Hamburg European Green Capital 2011”. With the signing of the licence agreement, the company is entitled to use the Green Capital project partner logo until 2011 to promote itself and the city of Hamburg.

“We are proud to have attained the sought-after status of an environmentally friendly company as part of ‘Hamburg European Green Capital 2011’ and see this as an affirmation of our company policy, which is consistently oriented toward environmental and climate protection,” said Dr Bernd Drouven, Chief Executive Officer of Aurubis AG. With total investments of € 917 million since 1981 at Aurubis’s Hamburg site, capital expenditures amounting to € 294 million have been invested in environmental measures for air, soil and water.

BSU Press Officer Volker Dumann emphasised, “The State Authority of Urban Development and Environment welcomes Aurubis AG’s active and systematic implementation of corporate environmental and resource conservation. Aurubis AG has been an Environmental Partner since 2003, and we are pleased to be able to welcome the company as one of the first to take part in the initiative ‘Environmental Partnership: Project 2011’.”
Aurubis AG applied for the environmental partnership as part of “Hamburg European Green Capital 2011” with three projects taking place at its Hamburg plant.

With capital expenditures of € 6 million, a new heat exchanger system was installed in April 2010 as part of the BSU programme “Companies for Resource Conservation”. The more efficient use of process gas heat from the flash smelter leads to 2 MW of additional waste heat utilisation and saves more than 2,000 t of CO₂ emissions annually.

In addition, the first certification of the Energy Management System at Aurubis in 2010 was recognised. The energy monitoring system is currently being expanded and will comprise all Aurubis AG sites in the future.
The third project of Aurubis Hamburg’s environmental partnership is the re-certification of the Environmental Management System of the company in accordance with EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme). An independent institute reviews the environmental data along with the energy data every year as a part of this certification. Apart from the absolute consumption data, specific consumption, consumption trends and possible optimisation potential are documented and reviewed. An internal audit of all plant sectors takes place in addition to the external audit. The system represents a very good basis for energy optimisation in the operational plants, as both production data as well as energy data are included.

Furthermore, Aurubis AG was the first company to take part in the Hamburg Senate’s Climate Protection Concept in August 2007. In a voluntary agreement, the company pledged to steadily reduce annual CO₂ emissions by an additional 40,000 t. About 200 measures amounting to capital expenditures of € 22 million will be implemented. As of now, more than 50 % of this mitigation target (a CO2 reduction of about 22,500 t) has already been achieved.

The title “European Green Capital” is conferred by the European Commission. Hamburg is only the second city to bear this title following Stockholm in 2010. The recognition honours the city that has exhibited excellent performance in environmental protection. At the same time, the European Commission expects the cities competing for this sought-after title to increase their efforts in environmental protection and to learn from one another through the exchange of best practice examples.
“Hamburg, 2011 winner, has shown major achievements in the pa

st years and at present, has also achieved excellent environmental standards across the board. The city has set very ambitious future plans, which promise additional improvements“, the EU jury stated in its rationale in February 2009. Hamburg received high scores in all twelve categories including climate protection, mobility, air quality, waste water and land management.

Company Profile

The Aurubis Group is the largest copper producer in Europe and the world leader in copper recycling. We produce some 1.1 million tonnes of copper cathodes each year and from them a variety of copper products. We have sites in seven European countries with about 4,800 employees.

Thanks to our wide range of services, we rank among the global leaders in our industry. Our core business is the production of marketable copper cathodes from copper concentrates, copper scrap and recycling raw materials. These are processed within the Group into continuous cast wire rod, shapes, rolled products as well as special wire and profiles made of copper and copper alloys.  Precious metals and a number of other products, such as sulphuric acid and iron silicate, round off our product portfolio.

Customers of the Aurubis Group include companies in the copper semis industry, the electrical engineering, electronics and chemical industries as well as suppliers of the construction and car industries.
Aurubis is oriented to growth and to increasing corporate value. The main focus of our strategy is on strengthening our business, utilising growth opportunities and practising a responsible attitude when dealing with people and handling resources and the environment.

Aurubis shares are part of the Prime Standard Segment of the Deutsche Börse and are listed in the MDAX, in the European Stoxx 600 and the Global Challenges Index (GCX).

Further information at www.aurubis.com

Contacts:

Group Communications

Michaela Hessling
Head
Tel. +49 40 7883-3053
m.hessling(at)aurubis.com

Matthias Trott
Tel. +49 7883-3037
m.trott(at)aurubis.com