Ball equips Carlsberg with lightweight beverage cans to cut 5,000 tons of CO2 annually

20 Feb 2024 --- Carlsberg is implementing an action roadmap with aluminum packager Ball, designed to drive sustainability progress. Lightweighting to reduce material use and cut carbon emissions is one aspect of this roadmap.

The companies are cutting Carlsberg’s most common can formats (33 and 50 cl) by approximately 5% in over ten European markets. The lightweighting reduces Carlsberg’s value chain carbon footprint by around 5,000 tons annually. 

“Partnering with suppliers who share our values and commitment is key to reaching our ambitious targets on our journey Together Towards Zero and Beyond. Our collaboration with Ball has already delivered notable improvements in lightweighting — a critical lever for decarbonization and materials used in our shared value chain. Now we’re going further through joint efforts to increase the circularity of our cans,” Johan Keerberg, vice president for Group Procurement at Carlsberg Group.

Promoting consumer action 
Calrsberg and Ball encourage consumers to return more of their used cans for recycling. “Joint initiatives include a trial deposit return scheme in Serbia and we have included the ‘Metal Recycles Forever’ logo on cans there to emphasize the infinite recyclability of aluminum,” says Carlsberg.

The cans supplied to Carlsberg by Ball are made of 62% recycled aluminum.The cans supplied by Ball in Europe are made of 62% recycled aluminum, achieved by a mix of pre- and post-consumer recycled material.

Promoting collection and recycling will help to increase the availability of post-consumer recycled content and enable progress toward Carlsberg’s and Ball’s complementary targets for increased recycling rates and increased use of recycled content in cans by 2030.

“We are pleased to continue to partner with Carlsberg and collaborate on our aligned goals, including a 90% recycling rate by 2030. Carbon reduction across our value chains is a key focus and lightweighting our cans is one way we have achieved this with Carlsberg, resulting in significant carbon savings in 2023,” says Björn Kulmann, VP for Sustainability at Ball Corporation.

“Our collaboration with Carlsberg will help us to meet our own Climate Transition Plan while delivering positive impact across our shared value chain.”

In other lightweight packaging news for alcoholic beverages, Owens-Illinois Glass (O-I Glass) launched its Estampe wine bottle on the French market, weighing approximately 390 g. The bottle is “well below” the average weight of typical wine bottles. The weight reduction translates to a 25% decrease in overall carbon emissions compared to conventional 500 g wine bottles.

Edited by Natalie Schwertheim