Investing in our communities

Being a valued corporate citizen means being socially responsible, listening to our community stakeholders and providing financial and/or in-kind support where we understand the need is the greatest.

Since our inception, Kaiser Aluminum has been committed to supporting our communities in ways that help local charitable organizations and service agencies create a positive and meaningful impact.

Protecting community health

Our Trentwood facility opened during World War II to create aluminum for airplane production. Since then, it has continued to innovate, grow and expand, staying abreast of manufacturing trends and environmental best practices. Prior to 1979, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were used throughout the facility for fire safety. While they were eliminated from our manufacturing process decades ago, their presence remains. Working directly with the Washington State Department of Ecology and local stakeholders in the early 2000s, we began to identify and remove sources of PCB.

From 2013 to 2022, we piloted multiple programs aimed at removing PCBs from groundwater, including a new technology that allows us to efficiently destroy – not just capture and dispose of – PCBs in groundwater. Our implementation of this technology is one of many ways we demonstrate our ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship and the wellbeing of our communities.

Building positive relationships with the regulatory agencies and our communities is a priority because, in the end, we all want to do the right thing.”

Elena Wolf

Manager, Environmental Affairs, Trentwood

At work in the community

We are always looking for new ways to engage with and support local communities so that we can make a positive impact on the places in which we live and work.

Spokane River Cleanup

Cleaning up our waterways is a critical component in the effort to reduce marine debris, safeguard ecosystems and ensure a safe water supply for communities. One of the ways we do this is by supporting our annual Spokane River, WA clean-up event. Annually, several of our Trentwood facility team members spend hours collecting trash on the banks of this valued fish-bearing waterway.

Million Can Contest

The Million Cans Recycling Contest is a fun and engaging way to build recycling awareness among youth. Running through April 2024, the contest (organized by Scrap University Kids and the Can Manufacturers Institute, or CMI) pairs schools in areas where recycling is less prevalent. As a CMI member, we are the designated ‘Can Champion’ for Yankeetown Elementary School, the first school to pass the 20,000-can threshold.

MiCareerQuest

In Kalamazoo, Michigan, we sponsored MiCareerQuest Southwest – an event that introduced students to career opportunities in IT, health sciences, manufacturing, construction and trades through fun, hands-on learning. Over the course of two days, more than 5,000 eighth graders had the chance to learn more about Kaiser careers through an interactive PlayDoh extrusion demonstration, a handheld ultrasonic testing session, or an interactive human machine interface game.

Habitat for Humanity

Since its inception in 1976, Habitat for Humanity has built on its successful model for sustainable development through affordable housing initiatives. In 2023, Kaiser’s Trentwood team members actively participated in local construction projects to build houses for local under-resourced families.

Career High School Partnership

When a vocational high school near our Warrick facility opened, we collaborated to equip it with the tools and curriculum necessary to prepare students for careers in industrial maintenance and precision machining. Our employees took on roles as speakers, led informative tours of our facilities and provided experiential work/study opportunities to seniors.