Ball announces progress of carbon footprint reduction plan

A few years ago, Ball Corporation launched Cut/4 CArboN, with a goal to reduce the carbon footprint of its most common beverage can formats by 25 percent within ten years. With a 10 percent reduction through the end of 2014, Ball is on pace to meet the global target.

“We developed our comprehensive Cut/4 CArboN program to demonstrate our contribution to our customers’ aggressive product carbon footprint reduction goals,” said Bjoern Kulmann, Ball’s director of sustainability. “We are pleased with the achievements that we have made to date, along with our partners, and have specific plans in place that will pave the way toward 2020.”

Ball’s Cut/4 CArboN target reflects a clear strategy – Cut. Conserve. Capture. The first 10 percent will come from efforts that are in the company’s control, such as cutting energy usage in our plants and conserving resources by optimizing the weight of our cans. Another 15 percent will come from work with industry partners to capture the valuable metal used in packaging by increasing beverage can recycling rates and reducing the energy intensity of metal production.

Earlier this month, Ball received its highest score yet – 98 B – from CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project). The 98 is Ball’s “Disclosure Score,” which assesses the completeness and quality of a company’s response, and B represents the “Performance Band,” evaluating the company’s reported level of action on climate change mitigation, adaptation and transparency.

Ball has participated in CDP assessments since 2007, improving our score each year as the top metal packaging company. A group of 822 investors with US$95 trillion in assets uses CDP to identify companies that report reliable, comprehensive information about climate change risks and opportunities. Ball is committed to providing relevant information to key stakeholders, including customers and investors.