Sjálfbærniverkefni á Austur- og Nurðurlandi

Welcome to the homepage of the Alcoa and Landsvirkjun Sustainability Initiative.

This initiative was launched in 2004, in the early stages of the construction of the Kárahnjukar dam and the Fjardaál smelter in Reydarfjordur, East-Iceland. These were probably the largest projects ever entered into in Iceland, and naturally people worried which effect they would have on Icelandic society, the environment and the economy of the country.

Alcoa and Landsirkjun acted with responsibility: representatives of both companies got together and discussed what they could do to prevent or counteract negative effects that could be directly or indirectly traced to the construction and/or operation of the power station and the smelter.

Neither one of the companies had a model how to conduct a project of this kind. It soon became clear that the initiative was a pilot project, not only in Iceland, but globally. Icelandic and foreign consultants were hired to help the companies with the design and outline of the project.

Now that Fljótsdalur Power Station and the Alcoa Fjardaál smelter are in full operation, the initiative is still ongoing (2012) and this page is constantly being updated as new data becomes available.

On this page, you can view the history of the initiative, read about the concept of sustainability, or catch up with the development of our social, environmental or economical indicators.

Social Indicators

The three "pillars" of sustainable development are society, environment and economy.

Society: A total of sixteen indicators relating to social issues were developed during the initial process of the Sustainability Initiative. All of them concern the welfare of the society - both in Iceland as a whole, and also in East Iceland, where the Fljótsdalur Power Station and the Alcoa Fjardaál smelter are located.

Click here to view the indicators concerning social issues.

Environmental Indicators

The three "pillars" of sustainable development are society, environment and economy.

Environment: A total of 24 indicators were developed during the initial process of the Sustainability Initiative. All of them concern the environment: the possible impact of Hálslón reservoir, Fljótsdalur Power Station and the Alcoa Fjardaál smelter on the water, flora and fauna of East-Iceland.

Click here to view the indicators concerning environmental issues.

Economical Indicators

The three "pillars" of sustainable development are society, environment and economy.

Economy: A total of five indicators were developed during the initial process of the Sustainability Initiative. All of them concern the economy: the possible impact Fljótsdalur Power Station and the Alcoa Fjardaál smelter on the economy of East-Iceland and also the economy of Iceland as a whole.

Click here to view the indicators concerning economical issues.