Members of the RUSAL public council discussed the implementation of environmental projects in 2025
The 12th meeting of the RUSAL Public Expert Council, a key platform for the company’s dialogue with representatives of the public, took place in Krasnoyarsk.
The meeting participants discussed the preliminary results of the implementation of the aluminum company’s environmental strategy in 2025, the introduction of the best available technologies and the development of “green” innovations at RUSAL enterprises.
“We shared with the council members the progress of six large transformational projects envisaged by our sustainable development strategy – to reduce emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases, waste management and the introduction of a circular economy, rational water use and the conservation and restoration of natural capital, and received recommendations from the council members – what is missing, how to measure economic effects, which areas need improvement,” Irina Bakhtina, director of sustainable development of the company.
Members of the public council paid special attention to the project to reduce the carbon footprint in aluminum production. Since 2017, RUSAL engineers have been introducing inert anode technology. Such electrolysers do not produce emissions. Metallurgists said that the pilot industrial operation of electrolysers operating on the revolutionary inert anode technology has shown its effectiveness in reducing the environmental load. The company plans to expand the scope of the experiment to an entire building in 2026.
In addition, RUSAL environmentalists shared information that over the past 6 years (from 2018 to 2024), thanks to the implementation of projects related to the reduction of specific greenhouse gas emissions, it was possible to reduce them by 14.3%. And by 2035, the company plans to reduce greenhouse gases by another 35%.
Experts emphasized that low-carbon aluminum is in great demand around the world. Therefore, they noted the need to accelerate its industrial implementation. During the meeting, RUSAL representatives spoke about other environmental innovations at the company’s factories. These include the gradual transfer of enterprises to EcoSoderberg electrolyzers, the large-scale implementation of modern gas treatment facilities, video monitoring systems based on artificial intelligence, which allow instantaneous detection of the smallest deviations in the operation of equipment, and automatic emission control systems. Another important topic that representatives of RUSAL’s public council shared with the meeting participants was a project to monitor and preserve the biodiversity of specially protected natural areas in the regions where the company’s enterprises operate.
“The project is over 15 years old, and during this time it has been possible to collect unique scientific information that helps analyze the situation, track problems and find effective solutions,” said Vyacheslav Shcherbakov, director of the Krasnoyarsk Pillars National Park.
According to him, thanks to the project, it was possible to preserve populations of rare plants and animals, such as the snow leopard.
As part of the meeting, excursions to the construction site of the new buildings of the Krasnoyarsk Aluminum Plant, the so-called New KrAZ, took place. The council participants were shown what stage the construction is at now and what is already in the buildings.
“Residents had doubts: is construction going on? And when we showed the moment of laying the foundation pit, there were many comments like: “They showed you an open field where there is nothing and nothing will happen.” My goal was to show people that construction is underway, and it is being carried out at a rapid pace. And we are waiting for the introduction of this production, because a completely different technology will be used, which will reduce the load on our air. I think it will be better. The goal of our movement is not just to walk around and criticize and say that everything is bad. We came to make sure – we are convinced,” – member of the public expert council of RUSAL, head of the movement “For a Clean Sky” Andrey Skovorodnikov-Erlikh.
Artyom Rechitsky, deputy of the Krasnoyarsk City Council, director of the autonomous non-profit environmental organization “Green Squad”, shared his impressions of the New KrAZ: “The last time I was at the construction site was in the summer of this year. Six months have passed, and noticeable changes are visible – the frame of the new buildings has been installed, electrolysis baths are being installed, and an electrical substation is being built. There is every reason to believe that by the stated deadline, new production on the baked anode will appear, which will primarily reduce fluoride emissions.”
