Johanna Klewitz, Ball's manager for sustainability and regulatory affairs, explained that the company was focusing on operations, innovation, recycling and supply chain as part of its Cut/4 CArboN campaign.
Ball is making its plants more energy efficient – replacing old compressors in sites including Braunschweig and Hassloch in Germany to cut energy consumption by 1.3m kilowatt hours per year.
The company is also light-weighting cans – its 330ml B-Can in Europe saves 5% material weight in the body versus standard cans of the same size.
A global rollout of the CDL end also saves 10% material compared with standard ends; in Ball’s North American Beverage Can plants this measure was completed in 2011, and saved 11.500 tons of metal, equal to 127.000 tons of greenhouse gas emission savings.
Recycling is also crucial, Ball said, since recycled aluminum only requires 5% of the energy needed to produce primary aluminum, and helps cuts carbon emissions accordingly.