Manama


Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) is creating a six-hectare forest at the southern end of the smelter in an area that takes the brunt of winds blowing from the production sites.

Hall said some crops had already been cultivated and found to be good for preparing food in the company's canteens.

"The idea is to present visual evidence that the plant can cohabitate with the local villages," said Hall, adding that the forest would demonstrate to all that the area was environmentally safe.

About Potline 5, Hall said the company had introduced double-suction equipment for dealing with effluents, the first time such a device had been adopted in an AP-30 smelter.

Additionally all 336 pots would have hoods. Hall also said there was no evidence that the electromagnetic field in the potline was harmful to the workers.

An elaborate monitoring system was in place in the premises to check on carbon dioxide and hydrogen fluoride emissions. "The company has been doing that for several years. Part of the study will be to see the difference in conditions before and after Potline 5," said Hall.

"If the plant is going to be successful...it has to be modern in every aspect and meet environmental regulations," he said

Perfect, smart thinking. Alba is setting benchmarks in Bahrain and the world at the same time. They're already going for a world record regarding inception of the fifth potline, so it's all good.

Very good project considering the amount of pollution they produce.

Very good project considering the amount of pollution they produce.


For your information,,,

Alba has won gulf award for envinromental protection considering their efforts turning the place to smart work place being clean and efficient,

Also,

Other gulf countries including Oman and Qatar are serious about entering the same line of business. just a question, whats worse, oil and gas production or Aluminum, Guys please answer !!! or maybe no need for that...!!!!

This support my earlier statement....


30 years: Awards and Achievements

2001: GCC Award for the Best Environmental Activities by an Industrial Establishment presented by the GCC Ministers for the Environment.
2000: Environmental Management System ISO 14001.
2000: Millennium Business Award for Environmental Achievement presented by the United Nations Environment Programme in conjunction with the International Chamber of Commerce.
1999: Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa Award for Excellence in Industry.
1998: Bahrain Safety Award presented by the Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs.

1997: Environment Award presented by the Bahrain Ministry of Housing, Municipalities and Environment in conjunction with UNEP.

hehe.. take a chill pill...

You said yourself, "considering their efforts turning the place" It just means the company is trying its best to clean up around them, hence this forest project. Doesnt mean they havent polluting Bahrain for the past decade or two.

As for your questions, oil production does pollute, but qatar isnt a big oil producer. Its a big gas producer. And aluminum production is by far much worse then gas production. Infact Natural gas is the safest and most enivronmentally friendly form of hydrocarbon energy out there. This is the main reason why many countries like the UK, Italy, and the US are following into the footsteps of Japan by converting from nuclear/coal/fuel powered energy compains to gas-based energy companies.

Going to alot of gas production facilites you'll even notice a very small flare, which only burns out some excess gas vapors. Infact with new technology some plants are close to zero flare.

Other gulf countries including Oman and Qatar are serious about entering the same line of business. just a question, whats worse, oil and gas production or Aluminum, Guys please answer !!! or maybe no need for that...!!!!

Very good project considering the amount of pollution they produce.

Yes ALBA was hell on earth but not anymore, and since 15 years and my evidence is the sort of evidence that is reognised Internationally.

your said (considering amount of pollution they produce) which is means this fact is present, but its not actually.

Back to oil and gas,

If you might have noticed i said (oil and gas) i.e. the concened is the oil and gas industry and not gas solely.

However, dont know if you are still looking fo an answer but to make it short, the answer is Oil and Gas production is the major source of pollution in the Gulf. and the concerned is not a country in particular.

Hope this explains.

I think i got your point. But i think its other plants that cause alot of pollution, like fertilzer, cement, and espically the power generation plants. But when you say oil and gas, usually they are not accompined. Rarely would you see oil produced and gas being produced from the same site, this is why i made the distinction. Usually the gas accompined with oil is either flared up, pumped back into the oil field to better extract more oil or used internally in the plant itself. Most of the time a site which produces oil would really produce gas. ;)

http://www.albasmelter.com/news/gif/4march05B.jpg


Alba wins Best Kept Industrial Gardens award

Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) won the first place prize for the Best Kept Industrial Gardens during the opening of the 40th Bahrain Garden Fair which was hosted under the patronage of His Highness, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.


Her Highness Shaikha Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, wife of the King and
Chairwoman of the Supreme Council for Women presents the award to the Alba Chief Executive, Bruce Hall.

The award was presented by Her Highness Shaikha Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, wife of the King and Chairwoman of the Supreme Council for Women to the Alba Chief Executive, Bruce Hall after opening the fair on behalf of His Majesty King Hamad who is on Thursday March 3, 2005.

On this occasion, Hall congratulated all Alba employees on this distinguished achievement which comes as a result of the efforts of the company and its employees. Hall also thanked the Alba Board of Directors for their continuous support of the company’s environmental protection programmes.

Hall emphasised the company’s determination to continue its environmental protection programmes which have been implemented since the smelter’s commissioning.

“This award is certainly a source of great pride for the company and its employees,” said Hall. “It is the crowning glory of their efforts and a source of motivation to continue along the same path,” he said.

“The company has always sought to follow global developments in environmental standards and has developed a comprehensive, well studied plan to implement the latest environmental technology in all plant operations,” said Hall. “Alba has spent more than US$500 implementing such projects,” he said.


(from left) Alba Chief Executive, Bruce Hall, Alba Safety Health and Environment (SHE) Manager,
Hassan Al Aradie and Alba Plant Beatification Supervisor, Abass Arafat with the award.

Hall added that the success of any company or industrial plant today is dependent on a number of factors – including its compliance to local and international environmental standards. This was achieved when Alba was awarded the ISO14001 certification in 2000.

With the completion of Line 5 this year, Alba will be in the international spotlight as one of the most important aluminium smelters. Alba will face numerous new challenges – including increased competition among its peers to report the best possible global environmental achievements.

“Our concern with environmental issues is spelled out in our Environmental Policy,” said Hall. “The policy commits us to securing and maintaining optimum standards of environmental performance in the production of aluminium. We have also identified the Environment as one of the five Key Performance Indicators (Safety, People, Environment, Cost and Productivity) in our Strategic Plan.

The Safety Health and Environment (SHE) Manager, Hassan Al Aradie also expressed his delight at the achievement.
“Winning the award is proof of Alba’s environmental achievements and its outstanding reputation in protecting the environment. The award recognises Alba’s efforts in making the smelter a safe, clean and green working environment,” said Al Aradie.

“There is almost 15 hectares of greenery at Alba with more than 5,000 trees thriving in and around the plant,” said Al Aradie. “This is part of Alba’s ongoing Plant Beautification programme which has transformed the smelter from a barren industrial area into a lush green area. The company is also committed to promoting environmental awareness among employees and encouraging them to beautify the smelter and the county at
large,” he said.


Alba has won numerous environmental awards - the most prominent of which are the Millennium Award for Environmental Protection which was presented by the United Nations, the GCC Environmental Award and the Bahrain Environmental Award.

Nice to hear, Alba is doin a great job.

Alba's environmental investments earn regional praise

Alba’s thirty years of investment into environmental projects and its success in meeting international environmental standards has earned Bahrain glowing regional praise.


The smelter claimed, for the second time, the GCC Award for Environmental Excellence yesterday. It was the second time in as many weeks that Alba clinched a prestigious regional award.

The Award which singles Alba out as “the Best Industrial Establishment that Complies with Environment Standards and Specifications” pays rich tribute to the company’s long standing commitment to protecting the environment.

The award will be presented to Alba at an honouring ceremony to be held in Abu Dhabi next month under the patronage of the GCC Ministers for the Environment.

Three other companies from Bahrain also claimed the first place in different categories of the same award.

The awards, presented every other year by the GCC Secretarial-general to honour member states for environmental protection, provide an opportunity to recognize the environmental achievements of Gulf-based companies.

“The committee members were impressed by the tremendous effort Alba invested on the environment,” said a spokesperson for the National Committee for the Environmental Awards. “Alba has spent significant time, money and effort over the past three decades on environmental protection,” she said.

“We must applaud the fact that Alba has spent more than half a billion Dollars implementing such programmes - often with no financial return,” said the spokesperson. “Alba’s long-standing commitment to the environment, its history of environmental achievements and its continuous efforts to protect the environment are truly remarkable and must be commended,” he said.

“Alba has just completed its Line 5 expansion project and we have already begun our record breaking attempt at starting up the longest reduction line in the world in only a hundred days. When this expansion project is complete, it will make Alba the largest modern smelter in the world,” said the Alba Chief Executive, Bruce Hall. “This places tremendous responsibility on us and, as responsible corporate citizens, we feel we must set the example for others to follow,” he said.

“Since its commissioning in 1971, Alba has played a pioneering role in implementing environmental protection programmes in the region – and we are as determined as ever to continuously develop our environmental systems,” said Hall. “This commitment is spelled out in our Strategic Plan which identifies the environment as one of the five Key Performance Indicators we use to access the smelter’s performance,” he said.

Last year, Alba became what could be the world’s first Ozone friendly smelter when it concluded a four year project that completely eliminated the use of Ozone depleting Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) gases at the plant.

Alba also concluded the first phase of a BD 24.5 million project to retrofit all six gas turbines in Power station 3 with low Nitrogen Oxide (Nox) burners and replacing existing control systems to further reduce waste emissions and help control environmental pollution.


Alba’s commitment to the environment has won widespread acclaim and the company has won many local regional and international environmental awards - including the Millennium Business Award for Environmental Achievement which was awarded by the United Nations.

any renderings !!

News concerning Alba, not really about the forest:

Bahrain's Batelco has announced the implementation of the Kingdom's first large-scale Internet Protocol (IP) based telephony solution as part of Alba's potline-expansion project.

'IP telephony is a leading edge technology that offers customers an easy to use, cost-effective and flexible solution to communications requirements,' said Ian Dench, general manager - sales and marketing at Batelco. 'It is designed to reduce expenditure in addition to improving communications and enhancing employee performance for business customers.'

IP telephony provides an integrated voice and data network that allows staff to make telephone calls via fixed as well as wireless IP telephones, therefore enabling Alba employees to communicate anywhere on the Alba network - even over a remote connection. One of the results is increased productivity since employees will no longer be confined by the geographic location of a phone point or desk.

The Batelco/Alba project is based on world-leading Cisco IP telephony and has been implemented in cooperation with Batelco's systems integration partner Hewlett Packard (HP). The system was integrated with the former PBX system, thereby providing an up-to-date communications solution for the whole Alba plant without the need for any major changes in the 'legacy' voice communication systems.

'We are proud that our Alba project is another historic first for Bahrain's telecommunications industry,' says Ian. 'The implementation of a state-of-the-art IP telephony system on this scale is an outstanding achievement for all of the Batelco and Alba employees who were involved in this endeavour.

Well Bahraini Spirit,

If you recall this is regarding Qatar4ever's doubts in ALBA's envinromental concerns,,,and yeah not to to with that forest.