Ball had committed to reduce its direct and indirect GHG emissions globally by 16 percent by 2012, using 2002 as the baseline year. By aggressively managing energy efficiency programs throughout the company’s operations, Ball reduced its global GHG emissions by 18 percent as of the end of 2010 and is continuing actions to further reduce emissions.

Ball joined the Climate Leaders program in 2004. The EPA industry-government partnership worked with companies to achieve comprehensive climate change and has since phased down services to its partners. While the program ended in 2010, Ball remained committed to achieving its GHG reduction goal.

“We have conducted numerous energy efficiency projects, including reducing compressed air use, improving lighting efficiency and recovering thermal heat, that have had a positive impact on reducing our GHG emissions and helped us surpass our original goal,” said James N. Peterson, Ball’s vice president, marketing and corporate affairs. “Our success is also due to placing greater emphasis on reducing energy usage globally and the commitment of our employees, who continually look for ways to conserve resources in our facilities and add efficiency and value to our manufacturing processes.”

Ball originally set its Climate Leaders goal for its North American manufacturing sites. In 2008, the commitment was expanded to include Ball’s manufacturing locations in Europe and Asia.
 

 New Age Beverage distribution company has launched Just Pure Water, an unsweetened, zero-calorie purified water infused with the natural essences of three popular flavors: lemon-lime, orange or berry. Just Pure Water contains no preservatives.

The uniqueness of Just Pure Water is not only its natural, crisp taste but also its packaging of noncarbonated water in cans from Ball. The can is the most recycled beverage container in North America, and Ball’s cans contain an average of 68 percent post-consumer content and are 100 percent recyclable. The uniqueness of Ball’s 24-ounce cans enhances Just Pure Water’s shelf impact and offers consumers a quick-chilling, lightweight package.

“Packaging our Just Pure Water in aluminum cans was the natural solution for our company,” said Scott LeBon, president and CEO of New Age Beverages. “Selecting the purest of natural ingredients for Just Pure Water and then offering it in recyclable aluminum cans combines the best that Mother Nature can offer in a package that is environmentally friendly and convenient.”

Each Just Pure Water flavor features a sustainability fact about cans:
Berry flavor
Why water in a can?
Total average recycled content in aluminum cans made in the U.S. is 68 percent – the highest of any beverage container.
Lemon Lime flavor
Why water in a can?
The energy saved by recycling just one aluminum can will power a TV for 3 hours.
Orange flavor
Why water in a can?
It takes as few as 60 days to turn empty cans in the recycling bin into new cans on retailers’ shelves.

Why choose cans for premium beverages like Just Pure Water?
• Cans deliver brand messages. By using their entire surface for eye-catching color designs, cans require no label and can provide features such as reclosability and thermographic inks that tell consumers when the product inside is at the perfect temperature to drink.
• Cans are a sustainability success story. Cans are the most recycled beverage container in North America, and making cans from recycled aluminum saves 95 percent of the energy required to make aluminum from virgin materials.
• Cans are good for beverages. Ball’s cans are impenetrable to light and oxygen, and cans chill faster than other packages.
• Cans have superior portability. Cans are better-accepted in most environments because they don’t shatter, and their durability ensures they can travel to even remote locations.
• Many craft beer brands have been successfully expanding into cans, proving that consumers accept cans as a premium package and view cans as a better package for the environment vs. glass.

The 8-oz. trim can, which is a shorter version of Ball’s 8.4-oz. trim can, has a 202 can body diameter and a 200 diameter end. Ball’s 8-oz. trim can is designed to run on existing filling lines and requires no line modifications by customers. The trim 8-oz. package meets the newly recommended guidelines from the USDA that specify eight ounces as the maximum serving size for beverages sold in schools. Ball will also continue to make its popular 8.4-oz. size.

“We are committed to the North American beverage market and to meeting the growing demand for smaller, portion-control products,” said Robert M. Miles, vice president, sales, for Ball’s metal beverage packaging division, Americas. “Ball’s 8-oz. trim can is a sustainable solution for customers looking to stand out in the marketplace and tap into incremental distribution channels.”

An industrial site is HPR-certified when all of the recommendations issued by the insurance company in terms of construction, installation and fire protection are met, so that the likelihood of risk of financial and industrial losses is less than the market standard. This certification includes both natural risks (storms, earthquakes, floods) and industrial risks (fire, etc.).  Each year, FM Global loss prevention engineers audit 75,000 facilities. Less than 6% of the sites achieve HPR status.

Taking the top prize out of nine entries in the general line category was a one- gallon oblong can for Kikkoman Soy Sauce. The litho can was produced at Ball’s metal food and household products packaging facility in Elgin, Ill.

In the two – piece category, Ball’s one-pint beverage can for Miller High Life received the top honor out of 12 entries. The can features the classic retro look for Miller High Life and was made at out plant in Monticello, Ind.

The IMDA’s annual ‘Excellence in Quality’ awards competition recognizes companis that provide dynamic and high quality metal decorated pieces from all methods of the decorating industry. Entries are judged on the quality of printing, the degree of difficulty, the appearance of coating finishes, registration and technical expertise required for each piece.

Congratulations to employees in Elgin and Monticello for their outstanding attention to detail and for producing award winning, high quality products.

 The Aluminum Association, Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) and Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) announced on June 15 that nearly 56 billion aluminum cans were recycled in the U.S. in 2010, leading to a used beverage container (UBC) recycling rate of 58.1 percent—the highest in 11 years. Because it takes 95 percent less energy to produce a can from recycled material, the high recycling rate also resulted in significant energy savings. The amount of energy saved just from recycling cans in 2010 is equal to the energy equivalent of 17 million barrels of crude oil, or nearly two days of all U.S. oil imports.

“Consumers are looking for the best environmental and sustainability packaging option, and the growing demand for the can in the U.S. and around the world is further proof that the advantages of the can are important to consumers,” said Jim Peterson, vice president, marketing and corporate affairs at Ball Corporation. Ball is the largest beverage can maker in the world.

Aluminum beverage cans are unique in that they can be infinitely recycled back into new cans, keeping waste out of landfills and providing a significant amount of the material to make new cans. Aluminum cans not only have the highest recycling rate of all beverage packages, they also have the greatest amount of recycled content—by far—at 68 percent. The aluminum beverage can is the most valuable package in the recycling stream and more than covers the cost of its own collection and re-processing.

During 2010, Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL) reduced its global energy use by 2 percent and waste-to-landfill by 6 percent, the company said today. All reductions are based on per unit of production. Eleven of Ball’s manufacturing facilities in North America and Europe now send no waste to landfill, compared to six facilities in 2009. Ball also announced that it has been selected for two sustainability and social responsibility indexes and is included in a list of companies that provides the basis of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes.

 ”Our efforts focus on achieving economic, environmental and social sustainability – the triple bottom line,” said John A. Hayes, president and chief executive officer. “We continue to invest in our businesses to create value for our stakeholders, and our sustainability efforts contribute meaningfully to our company’s bottom line. We are gratified and honored to have been recognized by organizations that value so highly corporate responsibility.”

 Ball was recently selected for:

• The FTSE4Good Index Series, designed to measure the performance of companies that meet globally recognized corporate responsibility standards, has selected Ball as a member for the third consecutive year.
• The Calvert Social Index(R), a broad-based, rigorously constructed benchmark for measuring the performance of US-based sustainable and responsible companies.
• SAM’s annual Sustainability Yearbook, which recognized Ball as a member of the 2011 Bronze Class. SAM is an investment group focused exclusively on Sustainability Investing, and the SAM results provide the basis for the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes.

“Our environmental and social sustainability priority areas are energy, waste, water, packaging, safety and talent management,” said Gerri Walsh, who was named Ball’s director of sustainability in February after guiding Ball’s recycling strategy since 2003 and the company’s sustainability reporting process since 2007. “We know that progress will come incrementally. We continue to improve our environmental and social performance on a global basis as we work toward our goals, and we expect to make more progress in 2011. We will provide additional details on our performance in our sustainability report next year.”

 The “100 Best List” is based on publically available information and ranks Russell 1000 companies on their performance in seven key areas: environment, climate change, human rights, philanthropy, employee relations, financial and governance. Ball publically provided information on these areas through its sustainability report issued in 2010 and management survey responses.