Packaging

Our long-term direction is to develop the lightest weight, most recycled, consumer preferred packaging for the markets in which we compete.

Packaging serves society along the entire supply chain; it secures product quality, provides for efficient and safe delivery, enables storage and sufficient shelf life, offers important product information and protects products from damage, tampering and deterioration. Packaging provides consumers what they want, when they want it, in a format that fits their lifestyles.

Ball’s focus has been to produce packaging that minimizes environmental impacts while meeting the requirements of our customers and consumers. Ball’s primary effort has been to provide increasingly lighter weight, recyclable packaging that contains recycled material when feasible.

Life cycle thinking considers an entire process from extraction of materials, manufacturing, and use to recycling of a product and evaluates the impact of each of these processes and the resulting consequences throughout the supply chain. By understanding where in the life cycle the significant environmental impacts occur, we can better understand where to focus improvements. For the production of metal cans, we collaborated with metal suppliers on life cycle analyses in Europe and the U.S.. These studies show that the extraction and processing of raw materials create the major environmental impacts related to the environmental footprint of beverage cans, and that light-weighting and recycling reduces those impacts (see chart above).

 

 

 

Ball Corporation is the largest manufacturer of beverage cans in the world. In the U.S., Europe, China and our joint venture in Brazil, we manufacture aluminum beverage cans. In Europe, we also manufacture steel beverage cans. We are the largest producer of steel and aluminum aerosol cans and the second largest producer of steel food cans in North America.

Lightweighting

Lightweighting - making the lightest container possible while still meeting the performance requirements of our customers and consumers - has always been a cornerstone of our approach to sustainable product innovations. Lighter weight containers provide both economic and environmental benefits.

The benefits of lighter packaging cascade throughout the entire supply chain. Reducing the weight of shipments, for example, decreases fuel use, greenhouse gas emissions and costs. Light-weighting has helped ensure that our products lead the market in value in addition to quality and performance.

Lightweighting by even very small increments saves significant amounts of aluminum or steel taking into account the billions of recyclable containers Ball produces every year. We continue to develop new ways to further reduce the weight of our containers while maintaining their integrity.

We are on track to complete by the end of 2011 a conversion to our aluminum can end (CDL) that uses over 10 percent less aluminum.  When complete, this entire project will save 10,076 tons of aluminum annually in the U.S., equivalent to 138,546 metric tons of CO2 (or removing approximately 26,500 cars from the road).

Innovation

Innovation is key to maintaining our competitive edge and helping our customers maintain theirs. Sustainability has become an increasingly important aspect of our innovation process. Consideration of the environmental impacts of new product developments is increasingly more important for our customers and consumers.

To use a more systematic approach and increase efficiency, our packaging innovation teams implemented global, web-based innovation management software in 2009. Ideas are entered and assessed, and innovation projects are developed and tracked. We evaluate innovations through multiple lenses including resource requirements, cost and the impact of product innovations on the recycling process. This approach allows us to invest wisely, invite our customers to join our innovation process at any key phase and ensure overall project quality and product viability.

Aluminium Cans

Aluminum cans are 26% of the global beverage container market. They are lightweight, durable, 100% recyclable infinitely and provide a very effective barrier against light and oxygen, giving beverages a long shelf life.

Aluminum is a plentiful resource. It comes from bauxite, the third most abundant metal element in the earth’s crust. It takes significant amounts of energy (in North America 67% is from renewable hydropower sources) to convert bauxite to aluminum. Recycling aluminum reduces not only the need for additional natural resources but also significantly decreases the energy required to make aluminum and the environmental impact of the aluminum manufacturing process. Using recycled aluminum requires 95% less energy and generates 95% less greenhouse gas emissions than producing can sheet material from bauxite ore.

Today’s 12-ounce aluminum can package uses about 40% less aluminum than in 1970 - from about 22 to 34 cans per pound today. Since we first began manufacturing aluminum cans in 1969, light weighting has been a fundamental part of our business for economic and environmental reasons. The size of the end (lid) diameter has been reduced five times, saving substantial amounts of aluminum each time. Our newest can end (CDL) uses over 10% less aluminum per end than its predecessor. The amount of aluminum used for the can body has continually been reduced over the years as well.

Aluminum and Sustainability Facts:

• Aluminum cans are 100% recyclable infinitely.
• The 2010 U.S. recycling rate was 58%, the highest rate for any beverage container.
• The 2008 European recycling rate was 63%, with some countries exceeding 90%, such as Belgium, Sweden and Germany.
• Total recycled content (post consumer and post industrial) in aluminum cans made in the U.S. and Canada is 68 percent - the highest of any beverage container.
• Aluminum cans manufactured in Europe are made from aluminum produced with 50% recycled material.
• The 12 oz. can and end package is approximately 40% lighter than in 1970.
• Cans are the lightest weight beverage container - at 34 cans per pound they enable savings in shipping and handling costs through the entire supply chain.
• Using recycled aluminum requires 95% less energy and generates 95% less greenhouse gas emissions than producing can sheet material from bauxite ore.
• The energy saved by recycling just one aluminum can will power a TV for 3 hours.
• Aluminum helps subsidize municipal recycling - the scrap value for the aluminum can (per pound) is higher than anything else in the curbside recycling bin.
• It takes as few as 60 days to turn empty cans in the recycling bin into new cans on retailers’ shelves.

More information about aluminum can recycling can be found on the Can Central website and the International Aluminum Institute website.

Steel Cans

Steel is the world’s most recycled material. It has been recycled for economic and environmental reasons for decades. Steel cans have the highest recycling rate of any food package at 66%. The post consumer recycled content used in food and aerosol cans in the U.S. averages 26%. It is lower than the recycling rate because new steel is produced in two ways and the process to make more durable steel goods like structural beams requires more recycled material. Steel beverage cans manufactured in Europe are made from steel produced with 56% recycled material.

Because of its magnetic properties, steel is one of the easiest materials to recover at recycling facilities. Whether it’s a food can, an aerosol can or a beverage can (in Europe), the magnet picks it up and sends it down the steel line.
Steel has no "memory" so all types of steel products can be melted in the same furnace and recycled into any type of steel product again and again.
Empty steel aerosol and paint cans are recyclable just like any other steel product.

Food Cans: Safe and Efficient

Food cans are safe, shelf stable and don’t require any energy for storage. A study released in 2007 by the Steel Recycling Institute (SRI) showed that canned foods offer a more energy efficient delivery system than either refrigerated or frozen foods. The study was performed by Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) of Oakland, Calif., and assessed the energy consumption of refrigerated, frozen, and canned food delivery systems quantifying the energy requirements at every stage of the supply chain depending on the form of packaging.

The Steel Recycling Institute website has more information on sustainability in the steel industry.

Steel and Recycling Facts:

• All steel products are 100% recyclable infinitely.
• Steel is the easiest material to remove from the waste stream due to its magnetic properties.
• The U.S. steel can recycling rate is 66%, making it the most recycled container.
• Steel cans contain 26% average post-consumer recycled content and 33% total recycled content in the U.S.
• Steel beverage cans manufactured in Europe are made from steel produced with 56% recycled material.
• Using recycled steel in the production process saves 75% of the energy vs. using virgin materials.
• Steel food cans are 33% lighter than 25 years ago.
• Aerosol can weight was reduced 5% in the last 10 years.
• The total amount of steel recycled each year in the U.S. saves enough energy to power about 18 million households for one year.
• Steel can be very efficiently recycled due to its magnetic properties.
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Recycling programs depend on reliable markets for the recycled materials and sufficient revenues to offset costs for collection and processing. The price paid for recycled metals and plastics generates revenue that helps offset the costs of recycling programs. The benefits of recycling are saving huge amounts of energy and natural resources. Increasing recycling of materials is also an effective way to significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Recycling depends on the collection of materials from the consumer to divert the materials from the waste stream to the recycling stream. Hundreds of millions of consumers worldwide use our packaging. Influencing these consumers to collect and recycle those materials is challenging. There is a tremendous amount of variation in collection systems because they are primarily managed at the local level. Many programs have failed to keep pace with changes in material markets, collection and sorting techniques and with consumer awareness. The specific weaknesses of the systems in each country have to be addressed individually. Because Ball is a part of a vast packaging supply chain across several continents, we focus on a collaborative approach in support of various packaging collection systems. Ball, together with others in our industry, is actively engaged in the major regions - North America, Europe and Asia - where we operate to help meet these challenges.

 

North America

In the U.S., we have supported the Curbside Value Partnership (CVP) along with others in the aluminum industry since 2005.   CVP is a comprehensive curbside recycling program that helps to increase the recycling of all household recyclables. CVP provides free education tools and resources for communities to design, implement and measure a communication campaign. Additionally, visitors to the CVP website can view and download best practices from communities across the country. Since inception, four states and 27 localities have partnered with CVP, reaching millions of households. CVP partners have experienced an average 23 percent increase in recycling volume and an 18 percent increase in participation.

Our corporate headquarters and North American beverage packaging plants participate in the annual America Recycles Day Aluminum Can Challenge, a grassroots effort to demonstrate the importance of recycling in our communities. In 2010, 28 Ball facilities recycled over 81,000 pounds of aluminum, raising over $67,000 for a variety of charities and schools.

As a Colorado-based company, Ball is a major sponsor of Colorado Association for Recycling and its efforts to increase recycling in the state.  Ball co-hosted two forums with CAFR, "Implementing Recycling in the Green Economy," an event held to educate Colorado communities on recycling collection best practices.

We also donated $20,000 to the University of Colorado (CU) Institute for Ethical and Civic Engagement (IECE) for two projects in 2010. CU was ranked the top "green" university in the nation in 2009 by Sierra magazine.

The IECE’s goal is to make ethical and civic engagement a core part of CU-Boulder’s education and mission. One of those programs is the Buffalo Can Challenge (BUCC), an annual campus-wide canned food drive and competition organized to raise awareness of hunger in Boulder County and collect food and funds for the Community Food Share food bank. Campus teams design and build sculptures using donated non-perishable food items. The structures are judged in multiple categories and displayed to the public. The contest brought in 5,543 pounds of nonperishable food, which equated to 5,500 meals - enough to feed a family of 5 for a year.

The Recycling and Sustainability Messaging Contest at CU was a campus-wide Recycling Video Contest for students. The goal was to increase students’ acceptance of, and participation in, sustainability behaviors and to inspire creative, short videos from students that could be shared with others. Students were incentivized financially as well as scholastically. View the winning video.

 

 

Ball supports the Kids Can Make a Difference Aluminum Drive which raises money for Remembering the Brave Hall of Heroes by teaching kids about helping others, recycling and becoming responsible citizens.

Ball and MillerCoors Brewing Company jointly support two drop off recycling centers in Colorado.

 

 

Europe

In some European countries metal packaging recycling rates are close to over or even above 90 percent. However, collection systems in some countries are not performing so well. There is a tremendous amount of variation in collection systems because they are primarily managed at the local level. Many programs have failed to keep pace with changes in material markets, collection and sorting techniques and with consumer awareness. The specific weaknesses of the systems in each country have to be addressed individually.

In Serbia we are a founding member of SEKOPAK, the new green dot system that started its operations in 2009. SEKOPAK, supported by fillers and other packaging companies, is responsible for setting up a curbside collection scheme for packaging waste in Serbia.

When Ball opened beverage can plants in Poland and Serbia, recycling programs were established for each country - recal and recan. The purpose was to increase recycling rates by educating consumers - especially young people - on the advantages of recycling, and to increase environmental awareness and instill recycling as a daily habit. The recal activities contributed to the success story of beverage can recycling in Poland: while the recycling rate was only at 2 percent in 1995, the rate was at 66 percent in 2009.

In the United Kingdom (U.K.), beverage cans are collected in the multi material curbside collection systems managed by 446 municipalities. So far, these systems were not leading to above-average metal packaging recycling rates. Therefore Ball together with partners started a program to increase curbside collection in 2009 that aims at identifying the barriers to recycling at home. Based on these insights U.K. collection systems can be designed more effectively and consumers can be motivated by meaningful communication tools.

In France the out-of-home collection of beverage packaging has been identified as a major weakness of the recycling system. Therefore the French "green dot" system will have to broaden its recycling activities from curbside collection to collection in offices and public places. We are working together with our customers, retailers and packaging companies to make it a success and to further increase recycling rates in France.

Asia

In China, we began a recycling effort modeled after our European recan program. China has its own characteristics in terms of packaging material collection and recycling. Since aluminum cans have the highest scrap value of all packaging types, cans have been recycled at a high rate mostly through a vast trade network. Due to improper handling after consumption, plus multiple handling between traders, aluminum cans usually become contaminated with non-aluminum material reducing the recycling efficiency and recovery rate.

The goal of "recan" is to provide environmental education and recycling activities to improve the quality of the collection network. Our activities are located in the cities where we have can plants.

Environmental education activities in the schools of Ezhou city, near our Hubei plant, were initiated in October 2009. The activities consist of a can recycling competition to enhance student awareness of the benefits of recycling, a plant tour to educate students on the manufacturing process and benefits of recycling and a debating contest in schools. Ball will continue to broaden our reach by expanding this initiative to more cities in China.