Special Delivery! Alcoa to Load Sleigh with Holiday EverGREEN: a Tree Made of Recycled Aluminum Cans

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA):

WHAT: A group of Alcoa employees will trek along the North Shore riverfront to deliver a handmade, recyclable Christmas tree made from 756 recycled aluminum beverage cans to its neighbor, Carnegie Science Center. Who needs reindeer or the magic of Santa’s sleigh when you have Alcoa volunteers? The team will bring the six-foot-tall EverGREEN along the Riverfront Trail to its North Shore neighbor, Carnegie Science Center, where the sustainable aluminum can tree will be displayed during the holiday season. Forty hard-working Alcoa volunteers constructed the tree using cans they recycled. It was part of Alcoa’s annual Month of Community Service held in October, in which 550 Pittsburgh Office employees and 45,000 Alcoa employees worldwide participated.

WHEN: Monday, November 14, 2011 rain or shine

WHERE: North Shore Riverfront Trail from North Shore Drive (near the Mr. Rogers statue and Heinz Field) to Carnegie Science Center starting at 10:45 a.m. and arriving at the Science Center’s Rangos Omnimax Theater lobby at 11:00 a.m.

WHO: Alcoa employees, Carnegie Science Center staff and visitors, and one Christmas tree made from 100 percent infinitely recyclable aluminum. (NOTE: If you can’t see us on the trail, you will hear us, as we jingle our way along the path to the sounds of holiday music.)

WHY: To spread the message of aluminum can recycling. In 2008, Alcoa took up the charge to raise recycling rates in the U.S. to 75 percent by 2015. We can only make it happen by getting everyone involved. Partnering with Carnegie Science Center is a perfect way to engage Pittsburghers to recycle their aluminum cans and help increase the national recycling rate.

Delivery of the aluminum recyclable Christmas tree aligns with America Recycles Day, Tuesday, November 15. Alcoa and Alcoa Foundation are the national sponsors of America Recycles Day, the only nationally recognized day dedicated to promoting recycling in the United States.

At Carnegie Science Center, the Alcoa aluminum can tree will be placed in the lobby of the Rangos Omnimax Theater and will be visible from the Riverfront Trail.

When the holidays are over, this tree will get yet another life, when we take it to a local aluminum can recycling center. And 60 days after that – just in time for the first day of spring – these cans will be back on the grocery store shelves as new aluminum beverage cans. In recycling the 756 aluminum beverage cans, our effort will save enough energy to power an average home for five days.

MEDIA/VISUAL OPPORTUNITIES:

• Along the North Shore Riverfront Trail, where a dozen Alcoa employee elves will steer the "sleigh” with the aluminum can tree to its destination, Carnegie Science Center.
• At Carnegie Science Center’s Rangos Omnimax Theater lobby, where the tree will be displayed. Alcoa employees and Carnegie Science Center staff will arrange the tree for show.
• Group shots of Alcoa and Carnegie Science Center employees and the aluminum can tree.

FACTS AND STATS:

• The six-foot-tall aluminum can tree is made from 100 percent infinitely recyclable aluminum.
• 756 aluminum beverage cans were used. Recycling these cans saves 95 percent of the energy it would take to make new cans from raw aluminum.
• The tree is light weight -- 23.25 pounds. According to the National Christmas Tree Association, a six-foot-tall balled and burlapped evergreen tree could weigh as much as 250 pounds.
• 40 Alcoa volunteers worked six hours to create the tree.
• Joe Cahn, the Commissioner of Tailgating, placed the first recycled aluminum can on the holiday tree during his visit to Alcoa last month. He tailgated at the Steelers-Titans football game as part of his nationwide awareness campaign that using aluminum cans when tailgating is a smart choice.
• To learn how to make an aluminum EverGREEN, visit http://www.alcoa.com/recycling/en/media_video_gallery.asp.
• For a recycling toolkit, go to http://www.alcoa.com/recycling/en/info_page/earn_cash.asp.

About Alcoa
Alcoa is the world’s leading producer of primary and fabricated aluminum, as well as the world’s largest miner of bauxite and refiner of alumina. In addition to inventing the modern-day aluminum industry, Alcoa innovation has been behind major milestones in the aerospace, automotive, packaging, building and construction, commercial transportation, consumer electronics and industrial markets over the past 120 years. Among the solutions Alcoa markets are flat-rolled products, hard alloy extrusions, and forgings, as well as Alcoa® wheels, fastening systems, precision and investment castings, and building systems in addition to its expertise in other light metals such as titanium and nickel-based super alloys. Sustainability is an integral part of Alcoa’s operating practices and the product design and engineering it provides to customers. Alcoa has been a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for 10 consecutive years and approximately 75 percent of all of the aluminum ever produced since 1888 is still in active use today. Alcoa employs approximately 59,000 people in 31 countries across the world. More information can be found at www.alcoa.com.

About Carnegie Science Center
Carnegie Science Center brings the world of science alive for visitors of all ages. One of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, the Science Center features hands-on exhibits, three live demonstration theaters, a four-story Omnimax theater, Highmark SportsWorks^®, an interactive full-dome digital planetarium, a Cold War-era submarine moored on Pittsburgh’s Ohio River, the world’s largest and most comprehensive robotics exhibition, and a world-renowned model railroad display. Carnegie Science Center is located at One Allegheny Avenue on Pittsburgh’s North Shore next to Heinz Field. Visit CarnegieScienceCenter.org, or call 412.237.3400 for more information.