In 2020, Ball published its seventh biennial sustainability report, covering calendar years 2018-2019. We produce our sustainability report in portable document format (PDF) and printed reports are available on request. Electronic versions of the latest and previous reports are available for download.
Our sustainability report complements our financial reporting and covers the sustainability topics Ball and our stakeholders identified as being most material to our company. Customers, employees, investors and suppliers are the primary audiences for our sustainability reporting.
Real Circularity
Normalization
Global Reporting Initiative
Data Center
Sustainability Reports
Ball.com/Sustainability
Our website includes supplementary information and additional sustainability topics. We update our website annually with the past year's performance data and provide updates on our progress toward our sustainability goals.
Independent Assurance
Information provided in our sustainability reporting is subject to internal reviews and, for selected content, external assurance. We engaged ERM Certification and Verification Services (ERM CVS) to provide limited assurance in relation to our total 2020 data for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Scope 1, 2 and 3), energy consumption, water consumption and waste generation. The assurance was conducted according to ERM CVS’ assurance methodology, based on the International Standard on Assurance Engagements ISAE 3000 (Revised). The independent assurance statement to Ball Corporation
Since 2004, we have obtained third-party reviews for Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions. A formal assurance process for these GHG emissions was conducted for the first time in 2012. In 2013, we added water and waste data to the assurance scope and energy data in 2014, and Scope 3 GHG emissions in 2017.
Reporting Boundaries
Unless otherwise stated, we are reporting sustainability metrics globally covering facilities where Ball has operational control, which includes owned and leased manufacturing facilities, major administrative offices, external warehouses and research and development facilities. Operations that are outside of these criteria such as joint venture locations where Ball does not have full authority to introduce and implement its operating policies have not been accounted for.
On June 30, 2016, Ball announced the completion of its acquisition of Rexam PLC and required divestitures, which resulted in significant changes to the company’s manufacturing footprint. Specifically, Ball added 41 manufacturing plants from legacy Rexam to our portfolio and divested 12 legacy Ball plants.
Since 2017, Ball sold its steel food and steel aerosol business in 2018 and 2019, respectively and sold its Chinese beverage can assets in late 2019.
To ensure information and comparisons are reliable and meaningful over time, and to allow stakeholders to perform consistent trend analysis of our sustainability performance over multiple years, Ball performed an extensive effort during the nine months following the close of the acquisition. We collected monthly sustainability data for all legacy Rexam facilities in line with Ball’s indicator definitions for all years back to 2010. This approach is consistent with the reporting principles set out by the GRI Standards, and guidance from the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard developed by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
Therefore, all sustainability data published after May 2017 covering calendar years 2010-2020 is reflective of Ball’s company footprint post-close of the Rexam acquisition and post divestitures. Ball’s operational control-based reporting boundary for the 2010-2020 scope includes all active facilities, including those acquired during the Rexam acquisition, as well as all facilities that have been closed and fully ceased operations. All facilities that were previously under Ball’s operational control and divested as part of the acquisition process, and other facilities that have been sold since 2010 are not included in Ball’s reporting boundary. This approach allows Ball and our stakeholders to analyze sustainability performance trends, to set meaningful goals, and to report progress against these goals.
Global Reporting Initiative
Our reporting has been prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards issued by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the most widely accepted global standard for sustainability reporting. A detailed GRI Content Index is available online.
Feedback
Your feedback is important to us and will help improve our approach to sustainability and our reporting. Please send any feedback and suggestions to sustainability@ball.com.