Ball improves on sustainability goals
Ball has released its 2014 global sustainability data, indicating noteworthy improvements toward its corporate and operational sustainability priorities and goals since issuing its biennial sustainability report.
“For Ball, sustainability is an integral part of who we are,” said Bjoern Kulmann, Ball’s director of sustainability. “Each and every day, our employees around the world remain focused on maintaining the careful and deliberate balance of our economic, environmental and social impacts so we remain successful for another century. Our achievements in 2014 are a direct result of their ongoing dedication to and engagement in Ball’s sustainability efforts.”
Notable global 2014 sustainability highlights include:
Safety
- Ball reduced its total recordable incident rate globally to 1.52, which is substantially lower than the manufacturing industry’s average of 4.0, as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2013
Energy
- 20 Ball plants increased their energy efficiency by 5% or more
- Ball signed a contract to build three wind turbines at its Findlay, Ohio, plant, making it the first significant renewable energy project in company history
Waste
- The company reduced the total amount of waste generated by 5%. Thirty-seven of its global manufacturing plants sent zero waste to landfill by the end of the year, which is an increase of 24 plants since 2011. That said, only 9% of the total waste Ball generated globally in 2014 was sent to landfills and 70% was reused or recycled
Greenhouse Gases
- Ball reduced its global greenhouse gas intensity by 9.3% since 2010, which is a significant step toward its 2015 goal of a 10 percent reduction
Packaging Recycling
- The 2014 U.S. beverage can recycling rate remained at a historic high of 67 percent. To drive recycling rates of all of its products around the globe even higher, Ball continues working with industry partners in various organizations and programs, including The Recycling Partnership in the U.S., MetalMatters in the UK and others
Cut/4 Carbon
- Ball is making meaningful progress toward its goal to cut the carbon footprint of its beverage cans by 25 percent by 2020. Progress will be reported in August 2015
Innovation
- Ball and Henkel continued their lightweighting journey, developing an aluminum aerosol can that is 15% lighter than the standard aluminium aerosol can. Launched in Europe earlier in 2015, it has an estimated carbon footprint reduction of 12 percent and is the lightest commercially available can available on the market
Talent Management
- Ball conducted its second global employee engagement survey, in which 10,800 employees participated. The company’s engagement level is 78%, indicating that a high number of employees are engaged in Ball’s business and culture; feel enabled to do their jobs and are energised by their work
Supply Chain
- Ball and other aluminum industry leaders continued their engagement in the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative to foster sustainability and transparency in the aluminium value chain, and launched the “ASI Performance Standard – Principles and Criteria” in December
- Ball conducted its second global supplier self-assessment and achieved a response rate of 100%. Results will be released soon
Community
- The Ball Foundation, Ball and its employees donated more than $4 million to charitable organizations in the communities where Ball operates. Employees also logged nearly 18,000 hours of volunteer service
- The Ball Foundation invested $1.5 million into community programs that create a positive, measurable impact in education, recycling, food security and disaster relief
- Ball’s plants around the world donated $467,000 to causes in their local communities and organised community events such as recycling and food drives.
“Sustainability continues to be a priority at Ball,” Kulmann said. “We have made a lot of progress toward our goals, but recognise that we, in collaboration with our various partners, need to do more to create long-term shared value.”
