Ball Corporation has said that it is “on pace” to meet the global target for a reduction in its carbon footprint, after achieving a 10% improvement in 2014.
In 2010, the packaging manufacturer set itself a goal of reducing the carbon footprint of its most common beverage can formats by 25% within ten years, as part of its ambitious Cut/4 Carbon programme. 10% of this would come from efforts within the company’s control, such as lowering energy usage and conserving resources, while the remaining 15% of savings would be found by Ball’s industry partners.
The company said that the cut achieved since 2010 is the result of an 8% improvement in energy efficiency across its global metal beverage packaging business, as well as the continued weight optimisation of its cans. The US beverage can recycling rate increased from 58% to 66.5%, and it sustained the high rate of recycling in its Brazilian beverage can operation of 98%.
Meanwhile, the North American aluminium industry achieved a 19% carbon reduction per ton of aluminium produced in just five years.
Bjoern Kulmann, Ball’s director of sustainability, said: “We developed our comprehensive Cut/4 Carbon programme to demonstrate our contribution to our customers’ aggressive product carbon footprint reduction goals. 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.”
Earlier this month, Ball received its highest ever disclosure score from environmental advocacy group CDP. The score assesses the completeness and quality of a company’s environmental reporting, while each company is also evaluated on its stated level of action on climate change mitigation, adaptation and transparency.
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