Ball Corporation announced the availability of two new sizes of its infinitely recyclable Ball Aluminum Cup®, which will broaden the opportunity for venues and vendors to offer consumers a range of sustainable cup options.
“It has been inspiring to see continued excitement and growing demand for the Ball Aluminum Cup® since we first introduced the product to consumers in 2019,” said Dan Fisher, president and CEO, Ball Corporation. “As a company, we are relentlessly focused on advancing the circular economy. We believe that the expansion of our innovative aluminum cup will continue to drive meaningful change toward both helping our customers reach their sustainability goals and solving the packaging waste crisis.”
The new 9-ounce and 12-ounce cup sizes are designed for juice, wine, and cocktails — and are currently in use at select sports and entertainments venues. The full portfolio of sizes (including the existing 16-ounce, 20-ounce and 24-ounce cup cups) enables customers to serve a wide variety of beverages.
“We are excited to expand the Ball Aluminum Cup portfolio and offer our venue and food service customers a full suite of sustainable beverage packaging solutions – from aluminum cans to bottles and cups,” said Emily Fong Mitchell, president and general manager of Ball Aluminum Cups. “At Ball, we’re committed to increasing access to the infinitely recyclable aluminum cup, which helps our customers meet growing consumer demand for truly sustainable products.”
Research shows that 85% of consumers have become more focused on sustainability in their purchasing in recent years. To meet the demand for circularity in sports and entertainment venues and to help reduce waste and strengthen recycling, Ball has introduced the new cup sizes in venues across the U.S., including Ball Arena, Red Rocks Amphitheater, SoFi Stadium, and more. At Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, aluminum beverage packaging has helped to eliminate more than 350,000 single-use plastic cups and bottles.
In addition, the aluminum cups manufactured in Rome, Georgia, are now composed of 90% recycled content, ensuring the highest recycled content rate of any beverage packaging in its category. This was achieved through an agreement for the supply of recycled can sheet from Novelis.
“In line with Novelis’ purpose of ‘Shaping a Sustainable World Together,’ we’re focused on innovating alongside customers like Ball to increase the use of recycled content in their products,” said Steve Fisher, president and CEO of Novelis Inc. “We’re proud of our long-standing partnership with Ball and our joint efforts to increase the use of aluminum for beverage packaging. Aluminum beverage packages — bottles, cans and cups alike — are a perfect product for the circular economy as they can be recycled over and over without ever losing their material properties.”