Ball Corporation Announces New Sustainability Goals

Ball Corporation announced 2030 sustainability goals focused on enhancing product stewardship and social impact to create value for stakeholders, together with a vision for how industry partners can collaborate to achieve a fully circular aluminum beverage packaging system.

Ball’s new global sustainability goals, which will drive performance across the life cycle of its products, include a commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions before 2050 and transitioning to 100% renewable electricity by 2030. The goals also include ensuring all aluminum is purchased from certified sustainable sources and converting 80% of Ball’s global beverage can volumes to its lightweight STARcan designs.

In addition to its sustainability goals, Ball also shared ‘Toward A Perfect Circle,’ an industry vision which sets out how, by working together, beverage brands, retailers, and aluminum beverage packaging manufacturers and their suppliers could make aluminum cans, bottles and cups – the world’s most recycled beverage containers –surpass a 90% recycling rate from today’s rate of 69% and increase the global average recycled content rate to as much as 85%.

Today, recycled aluminum uses only 5% of the energy compared to using virgin material, and recycled cans have the potential to be back on the shelf in as little as 60 days. Ball will work with partners to publish this multi-region recycling roadmap and carbon pathway plan within the next year.

“As a world-leading manufacturer of aluminum beverage packaging, Ball has a responsibility to our stakeholders and the planet to improve the environmental performance, social impact and economic returns of our business and take a leading role in driving industry-wide solutions to the climate crisis,” said John A. Hayes, chairman and CEO of Ball. “Our customers are seeking low-carbon and truly circular packaging options as they work to fulfill net zero targets and meet growing consumer demand for sustainable products. Infinitely recyclable aluminum cans, cups and bottles are the solution. We look forward to further enhancing our products and developing an industry-wide circularity roadmap in collaboration with our partners.”

“Ball is playing an important role leading the sector towards a better world. Surpassing a 90% recycling rate and 85% in recycled content will require teamwork across the sector and can have a phenomenal impact for our planet. We are also thrilled to see commitments Ball made in their sustainability goals which also support a path toward net zero carbon. All these objectives are deeply aligned with our vision and will have all of our support to become a reality.” – Felipe Baruque, VP, global procurement and sustainability packaging, Anheuser-Busch InBev.