Sustainability

Looking Ahead: A Deeper Shade of Green

Sustainability means meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. At RTI, we take this concept very seriously.

We've been a quiet leader in green initiatives for years - reconditioning and recycling used oil in our plants, instituting a corporate ban on the use of injection wells for disposal, and building a custom facility in Missouri to allow a West Virginia-based recycler to consolidate and package its metallic grindings - but our voice needed to be stronger.

In 2007, we established a set of goals that now lay the foundation for all our sustainability efforts: Minimize Environmental Impacts and Strengthen Environmental Controls.

Spotlight: Ashtabula River Cleanup

RTI is proud to be a partner in the Ashtabula River Cleanup, which has resulted in a cleaner, deeper Ashtabula River and sounder ecological environment for this Lake Erie tributary.

In the same year, we implemented our Environmental Management Guideline at each of our North American manufacturing locations, and as part of the RTI International Metals Safety and Environmental Management System (SEMS), each location has begun an Aspects, Impacts, and Controls Plan. These plans are modeled upon the ISO 14001 Environmental Management Standard and position RTI for eventual ISO certification. A multi-disciplinary environmental team has been established at each of our facilities, drawn from a representative cross section of the plant population. These teams are responsible for a process-by-process analysis of real and potential environmental impacts and how each impact can be controlled. The teams then use these opportunities to seek ways to minimize environmental impacts by eliminating and reducing waste generation and/or substituting products with eco-friendly alternatives. They have successfully identified several new minimization initiatives, including:

• RTI Claro now cleans machining equipment with its own coolant and water-soluble detergent (instead of hazardous solvent)
• RTI Alloys new raw material warehouse will prevent storm water contact
• RTI Tradco and RTI St. Louis are converting from a hazardous maintenance degreaser to a non-hazardous alternative (and recycling it)
• RTI Hermitage is developing a centrifugal separator for its wet grinders that will enable titanium recycling
• RTI Claro has a trial on-site coolant recycling unit

For many of these initiatives, success will lead to long-term adoption in all RTI locations.

Green Corner

RTI Hamilton wetlands replacement secured

The US Army Corps of Engineers Mobile, Alabama office, recently issued a wetlands permit to RTI Hamilton,opening the way for development of the site. The 35-acre plant site includes about one and a half acres area of a hardwood scrub bottom type wetland. In compliance with the permit, RTI has provided funds for corresponding acreage at a nearby wetland development to replace the affected area.

In 2008, we began the second round of SEMS in-house audits, drawing on environmental experts from throughout the company to serve on audit teams. Looking forward, we plan to build on this teamwork approach to prioritize control improvements and schedule completion of the top priority needs at each facility.