Ball Corporation is a supplier of innovative, sustainable aluminum packaging solutions for beverage and other household products. The company showed strong results in 2019, with a 14% increase in operator earnings and a 5% increase in its global beverage can volumes.
Over the past year, the company has announced the development of innovative packaging solutions, including aluminum cups and Infinity bottles, both of which aim to provide a sustainable alternative to packaging.
In addition, the company has been investing in new capacity. Ball started construction on its first facility dedicated to the manufacturing of aluminum cups in Rome, Georgia. The company is also adding multiple beverage can lines throughout its European network in order to provide incremental capacity in 2020 for customers moving from single-serve plastics to aluminum beverage packaging.
“With global customer and consumer demand for aluminum packaging solutions continuing to outpace existing supply, our previously announced aluminum beverage can and cup projects will add at least 8 billion units of capacity by the end of 2021,” said John A. Hayes, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Ball. “We are building our future today. Managing the growth in our existing businesses, being the sustainability leader, enabling the go-to-market strategy for our new aluminum cups business, and executing our disciplined capital allocation strategy is an exciting way to embark on 2020 and beyond.”
Acquisition in Brazil
Ball entered into a purchase agreement to acquire Tubex Industria E Comercio de Embalagens Ltda, an aluminum aerosol packaging business with a plant near São Paolo, Brazil, along with associated contracts and other related assets for $80 million.
The São Paolo-area plant includes eight impact extrusion aerosol can lines, which produce personal care packaging for global and local customers. It employs approximately 300 people. The plant will become part of Ball’s aluminum aerosol packaging division, and complements the company’s global aluminum aerosol and slug business in Europe, North America, and Asia.
“As the demand for sustainable aluminum packaging continues to grow among customers and consumers worldwide, this investment allows us to broaden our geographic reach and serve this expanding market as one of the leading aluminum aerosol suppliers in Brazil,” said Hayes.
Sustainable Aluminum
Ball earned the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) Performance and Chain of Custody (CoC) standards for all 23 of its Europe, Middle East, and Africa beverage can plants. Ball is the first beverage can manufacturer to meet ASI’s environmental, social and governance principles — a major sustainability milestone for the company.
The certification accompanies a commitment by Ball to significantly reduce its carbon emissions, which includes shifting to renewable energy for all of its operations in the European Union, Serbia, and the U.K. In addition, the company recently entered into wind and solar agreements in order to supply 100% renewable energy for all of its North American operations by 2021.
“We’re extremely proud to be the first aluminum beverage can manufacturer to achieve ASI certification,” said Ron Lewis, president, Ball Beverage Packaging, EMEA. “With their infinite recyclability, aluminum cans are the fastest growing beverage packaging type in Europe. As consumers seek more environmentally friendly products, they can have confidence in aluminum’s strong sustainability credentials such as responsible sourcing. The certification, combined with our renewable energy investments, demonstrates Ball’s commitment to a low-carbon, sustainable economy.”