Alcoa Pinjarra partners with local charity
The partnership supports Bridge Builders' Backpack Buddies program, which helps ensure children facing hardship have access to nutritious weekend meals. Bridge Builders' School Program co-ordinator Leandri Cronje (left), Bridge Builders volunteers Craig Brierley, Rod Stuart and Bee Ann Jansons, and Alcoa's Heather Scott deliver the backpacks to Carcoola Primary School. Credit: Supplied
Employees from the refinery's community relations team volunteered at Bridge Builders to help fill backpacks for Carcoola Primary School students.
Carefully tailored to meet dietary needs and family sizes — some supporting up to six siblings — each backpack was filled with breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, fruit, milk and a loaf of bread, plus a personalised note to lift each child's spirits.
Backpack Buddies schools program co-ordinator Leandri Cronje said Alcoa's support had enabled them to reach an extra 12 students who otherwise would have gone without.
'Alcoa's support goes beyond funding; their team brought incredible heart and energy when they joined us to pack the bags,' she said.
'It reminds us that Backpack Buddies is about so much more than food — it's about community, dignity, and hope.'
Pinjarra Alumina Refinery manager Jodie Giraudo said Alcoa was committed to supporting the community and assisting young people through these types of partnerships.
'Our team was truly moved by the care and thought that goes into every backpack,' Ms Giraudo said.
'It's more than food, it's dignity, kindness and connection. Alcoa is proud to stand beside organisations like Bridge Builders that are making real, immediate differences in the lives of local children.'
Bridge Builders CEO Kelly Hinder said partnerships like this built stronger communities and ensured no child went hungry.
'Local children deserve to feel safe, valued and supported,' she said.
'When local businesses — whether large corporations or small family-run enterprises — choose to invest in grassroots charities, it sends a powerful message of hope. Together we can do incredible things.'
Backpack Buddies is one of several support initiatives run by Bridge Builders, which also runs a weekly community pantry, Birthday in a Box, and Gift of Christmas programs.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
2 days ago
- ABC News
WA Bauxite Emissions
News: on August 14 News Online published a story on the proposed expansion to Alcoa's bauxite mining in WA. The story reported that the proposal would result in the release of the equivalent of three years' worth of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions. However, it failed to include that the majority of those emissions would be overseas in the offshore processing of the bauxite into aluminium.
ABC News
3 days ago
- ABC News
Proposed expansion to Alcoa's bauxite mining in WA's jarrah forrests could produce 1.3 billion tonnes of emisions
US aluminium giant Alcoa's proposed expansions to its mining operations near Perth would release three years worth of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions over the projects' lifetimes. The Pennsylvania-based company has mined amongst the world's only jarrah forests in Western Australia for bauxite — used to create aluminium — since the 1960s. Alcoa has two proposals before the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to expand its mining operations in WA's state forests and increase its alumina production. The proposals are open for public comment and submissions. An analysis of the publicly available proposals shows the projects could emit more than 1.3 billion tonnes of green house gas emissions over their lifetime, including clearing, mining, and refining until 2045. This equates to about three times Australia's annual green house gas emissions from all sources, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Greens WA MLC Jess Beckerling said, emissions-wise, it was equivalent to opening 17 to 18 coal-fired power stations. "You cannot imagine a situation in which either the WA state government or the federal government would be considering opening another 17 to 18 new coal-fired power stations as we're trying to reach net zero by 2050," she said. Alcoa's climate change policy states it "acknowledges the scientific evidence of global warming" and "supported the need for an urgent global response". The company has committed to reducing its carbon intensity in manufacturing its products, and leading research and development programs to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Alcoa has been contacted for comment. Local towns in the fray of Alcoa's proposed mining expansions have raised concerns and suggestions, including the Shire of Mundaring which has resolved to oppose bauxite exploration and mining. In a statement, Shire President Paige McNeil said the decision reflected the community's concerns for water security and environmental impacts. "Our community told us that the health of our water catchment and the unique environment of the Perth Hills must be protected for future generations. Our community is not willing to accept exploration drilling that could lead to the mining of our unique jarrah forest," she said. "Council's decision reflects our responsibility to safeguard our environment now and into the future and to advocate strongly on behalf of our residents." The shire has requested Alcoa to voluntarily excise the Mundaring Weir Catchment area from their exploration drilling program, and is opposed to any exploration and mining in the Northern Jarrah Forest. Alcoa is exempt from most of the state's environmental legislation and is instead governed under state agreement which allow it to mine about 7,000 square kilometres of forest. Once the public consultation period is over for Alcoa's proposals, the EPA will assess them and make a recommendation, and the proposals are ultimately approved or opposed by the Minister for State and Industry Development. Alcoa's director of regulatory approvals Kane Moyle said the company's proposed exploration "does not indicate an intention to mine in that area". "Any proposal to mine would involve rigorous consultation, assessment and in fact approval before we could do so," he told ABC Radio Perth. A review of Alcoa's forest rehabilitation efforts, published in the scientific journal Restoration Ecology, indicated the company's results were "substandard" and on a "poor to declining trajectory". Alcoa contested the claims and said it had started rehabilitating 75 per cent of the land it cleared. Alcoa has not completed rehabilitation in any of the 280 sq km of forest it has cleared in WA. The Shire of Waroona has made a submission to the EPA suggesting a "bond" from Alcoa to ensure the forests were restored. Shire President Mike Walmsley said Alcoa no longer mined in the shire but had fallen "behind" on their promise to rehabilitate the areas it had mined. "One of our submissions was very similar to what we do with an extractive industries license is that we bond the works of rehabilitation," he told ABC Radio South West. "So if someone was to walk away from the sandpit or something in our shire that there's still money available to make sure that sandpit or whatever is rehabilitated."
West Australian
24-07-2025
- West Australian
‘I know there's concern' says Alcoa Australia president Elsabe Muller as US miner fights for South West mine
Alcoa's new local chief Elsabe Muller insists the US bauxite giant is putting 'all effort in' to win approvals to keep mining the State's Jarrah Forest as the plans undergo lengthy public scrutiny. The Pittsburgh-headquartered miner and alumina refiner is fighting to secure two environmental ticks from the State Government to expand its bauxite mine in the South West, and to increase production capacity at the Pinjarra Alumina Refinery. Asked whether she was confident Alcoa would get the green light for its expansion plans, Ms Muller told a WA Mining Club event the miner was 'putting all effort in to make sure that we're getting the support to get approval.' Alcoa's existing approvals were locked in under a State agreement in 1961 and therefore have not gone through WA's current environmental assessment regime to make sure they meet modern standards . 'For any mining company, you tend to mine where the deposit can be economically extracted. Now, in our case in WA, you find it in the Jarrah Forest,' operations president Ms Muller said on Thursday. She referenced research from the Global Aluminium Council that claimed demand for the metal would increase between 30 per cent and 40 per cent by 2030. 'It will double by 2050 because you do need it to decarbonise. There's no substitute,' she said. 'We obviously need to enter new mining areas so that our refineries can keep operating for decades to come.' WA's Environmental Protection Authority launched a 12-week public comment period for the plans at the end of May, a move Alcoa said earlier this month would mean it was unlikely a Ministerial decision would be made by early 2026, as had been anticipated. The miner has also faced substantial community concern since it was served an official notice by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation in 2023, after inspectors found Alcoa had built a pipeline and funnelled toxic PFAS-contaminated waste over Samson Brook dam despite a works application still being 'under assessment'. Asked how it would address these concerns during the public feedback period, Ms Muller said on Thursday that Alcoa had 'never impacted drinking water' and had implemented a reservoir protection zone 'to absolutely make sure we will not'. 'I know that there's concern. We've never impacted drinking water.'
