Aurubis controversies
Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.
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2023
Historical forced labor and wartime conduct
Historical research describes the use of forced labor during the Second World War, the processing of looted gold, and participation in the German wartime metals economy by the predecessor company Norddeutsche Affinerie.
2023
Systematic metal-theft scandal
Aurubis disclosed that employees and subcontractors had apparently stolen metals over a number of years. The resulting losses were described as being in the low three-digit million-euro range, leading to investigations, management departures, and strengthened scrutiny of controls.
1985
Hamburg arsenic scandal
Measurements conducted in the late 1970s found elevated heavy-metal concentrations in eastern Hamburg. Public controversy intensified in the 1980s after environmental results were not initially disclosed, producing the scandal commonly associated with arsenic pollution around the Hamburg works. The company later undertook extensive environmental modernization.