Unleashing Our Infinite Potential
In our dedication to delivering results, fostering innovation, and championing sustainability, Ball unveils the highlights of our 2023 Combined Annual & Sustainability Report, showcasing our progress towards a more circular future and harnessing our infinite potential.
To our fellow stakeholders,
2023 showcased the resolve of our people, the resiliency of our products, and the fundamental strength of our operations. The past year set the stage for Ball to reinforce our commitment to create measurable value and advance sustainability through the delivery of scalable, low-carbon aluminum packaging solutions.
Learn more how we’re delivering meaningful results, the Ball way.
Unlocking Value For Those Who Count On Us
Capital Expenditures
$ In billions
EVA Dollars
$ In millions
Global Aluminum Packaging Shipments1,2
$ In billions
* EVA® represents net operating earnings after taxes less a capital charge of 9% after taxes on average invested capital employed.
1 Total shipments for all aluminum packaging types produced by Ball not inclusive of ends.
2 Data in every year presented excludes the Russia business sold in 2022—for volume figures only.
2023 Highlights
Combined Report - Infographic - Hero
Aluminum’s Limitless Potential
In an era where sustainability, resilience and adaptability are paramount, Balls’ 144-year history serves as a reminder of our long-standing commitment to devising innovative solutions that position our customers for long-term success. As we take a moment to reflect on our core values and reaffirm our role for customers, employees and communities, we eagerly look forward to unlocking the infinite potential of our next chapter.
It All Starts With the Voice of Our Customers
Ball’s commitment to customers is unwavering. We understand that our customers face unique challenges, and we’re dedicated to providing solutions that not only meet, but exceed their needs. Since 2020, many of our largest customers have published plans to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner. Packaging accounts for up to 40% of these customers emissions, and Ball has taken this challenge head-on with a commitment to developing aluminum packaging solutions that support the ongoing success of our customers and promote the idea of real circularity in packaging solutions.
Highlights: A Shared Vision for Packaging Innovation
Product experience merging convenience.
In recent years, consumers have shifted from convenience consumption to more mindful, sustainable choices. Ball is at the forefront of this shift, shipping 107 billion units of aluminum packaging last year alone.
Driving consumer preference through distinctive design.
Aluminum packaging has increasingly attractive consumer applications. Ball understands the importance of its customers’ products standing out and offers unique printing technologies and graphic design solutions.
The bottom line: aluminum is winning as a circular option.
For the fifth year in a row, aluminum can penetration increased in the beer, carbonated soft drinks, and coffee and energy drinks categories. For the first time ever, aluminum’s share of the market exceeded 30%.
Innovation driven by a world-class team.
The scale and focus of our workforce are also a source of operating leverage, particularly as we advance our manufacturing and leadership knowledge and transfer it across our operations. Every individual at Ball embodies our customer-first mindset and everything we do starts with that intention.
Policy & Advocacy
We are committed to providing transparency into our public policy advocacy efforts, which remain grounded in promoting circularity of the aluminum we use in our packaging. This is our principal decarbonization lever and we have set an ambitious target to achieve an 85% recycled content goal by 2030 for aluminum cans, cups and bottles in the regions where we operate. This requires policies that create incentives to recycle, and continued support for infrastructure and systems that make the process simple, convenient and affordable. Today, recycling rates vary considerably by geography. The average recycling rate for aluminum beverage cans across Europe is 76%, with Germany (99%) and Finland (97%) leading the way. Both countries have in place a Deposit Return System (DRS). The current U.S. recycling rate is just 45% for aluminum packaging.
Our Packaging Solutions
At Ball, we’re dedicated to creating innovative aluminum packaging solutions that enhance our lives. We collaborate closely with our customers in the beverage, personal care and household products industries, tailoring our offerings to meet their unique needs. Our extensive portfolio of aluminum packaging designs offers convenient, sustainable solutions that seamlessly integrate into consumers’ daily routines.
Single Use & Recycle
After enjoying your beverage, make sure you recycle. 
Reuse & Refill
These products can be used over and over.
Household & Personal Care
Elevate your daily routines with sustainable solutions.
Events & On-the-Go
Drink your favorite beverages at a sporting event, movie or with friends.
Reuse, Refill, Recycle & Repeat
As part of our commitment to supporting our customers, we are taking steps to reduce waste, keeping our products and the aluminum we use in circulation. Our goal is to advance this vision by actively advocating for policies and actions that move us toward a circular economy—one in which materials are not just used and thrown away, but are reused and recycled endlessly.
Collaborating for a Better Tomorrow
Our growth potential relies, in part, on our ability to transform ourselves into a fully circular and decarbonized business, and reflects our focus on achieving science-based milestones over the near- and long-term. Our Climate Transition Plan outlines how we will collaborate internally and externally to achieve Net Zero carbon emissions prior to 2050. By outlining clear actions to decarbonize the aluminum industry, we create credible pathways for our customers and stakeholders.
Climate Transition Plan Update
Across our value chain, we are committed to identifying and acting upon available opportunities to achieve our targets, including those from energy efficiency improvements and the use of renewables to the weight optimization of our products. As a global leader and innovator in our industry, we remain committed to developing low carbon circular aluminum packaging solutions.
Combined Report - Climate Graph - Hero
Our Value Chain
We are committed as an enterprise to Operational Excellence, a concerted effort to leverage our industry-leading capabilities to show up for our customers every day. Ball Operational Excellence means being extremely intentional to do things the Ball way across our expansive global footprint. We strive for greater efficiencies, reduced costs and minimized risks, while improving the health and safety of our people, and the efficiency and sustainability of our manufacturing facilities and products.
Collaborating Toward Operational Excellence
Strategic partnerships like that which Ball supports exemplify our commitment to sustainable growth. Each partner will ensure significant reduction in imported can sheet. These collaborations aim to reduce the need for imports, enhance domestic production and promote closed-loop recycling, while maintaining alignment with our circularity and climate goals.
- Energy Efficiency
- Renewable Electricity
- Water Efficiency
- Metal Efficiency
- Material Health
Combined Report - Hero Image Grid - Hero
ASI Certification Expansion
Ball remains committed to the Aluminum Stewardship Initiative (ASI), in support of reaching our Climate Transition Plan ambitions and 2030 goal of 100% of aluminum purchased from certified sustainable sources. ASI is a global standards setting and certification organization whose goal is to collaborate with aluminum producers, users and stakeholders to foster responsible production and sourcing practices. ASI is a simple, reliable way to make our customers’ products truly aligned with governance, ethics, social responsibility and product stewardship values.
Building Plants of the Future
Ball continues to invest in new plant technologies that reduce the environmental impact of our production footprint.
"We are installing sophisticated automated equipment at the facility, leveraging the latest modern technologies to minimize environmental impacts and strengthened by our commitment to 100% renewable energy to cover our operations in Europe."
-Gerhard Mayer, Vice President, Operations, Ball Beverage
Our People
Ball is committed to hiring, training and retaining a diverse and high-performing employee population to work in our manufacturing facilities and offices, and we do so with the intention of having a skilled and engaged workforce well into the future.
In 2022, we launched our People Ambition—our strategy for hiring, training and retaining employees across our global organization—which outlines our roadmap for increasing leadership effectiveness and driving continuous improvement in the performance of our programs. In 2023, we designed and began introducing programmatic approaches to realizing our People Ambition. We will continue this work throughout 2024.
Download Working at Ball Section
Training & Development
At Ball, we believe that all employees deserve continuous development, so we aim to provide a working environment that fosters curiosity and brings out the best in our people. We are committed to ensuring all hourly and salaried employees, regardless of role and work location, feel inspired to grow and thrive within our organization. Development should be an active and continuous partnership between employees who aspire for more and an organization that wants to see them succeed.
Community at Ball
Ball supports the communities in which we live and operate across the globe. Our impact in these communities grows in line with our own business growth.
We are proud to have made a cumulative community investment of more than $5.2 million in 2023 on behalf of the company and our employees. A significant way Ball supports our local communities is through our employee volunteer programs. In 2023, our employees volunteered more than 38,000 hours of service. Initiatives included removing litter from waterways and beaches across four different countries; recycling education in South America; hosting free dental exams in India; and building homes for veterans and low-income families in the U.S.
Ball continues to partner with GlobalGiving— a non-profit crowdfunding platform for philanthropic projects—to provide support where and when it is most needed. In 2023, we supported communities hit by flooding, wildfires, landslides and drought. We provided funds to rebuild schools, provide emergency shelter and supplies and improve community resilience.
In June 2023, an extra-tropical cyclone hit the state of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, causing 39 deaths and displacing 3,900 people from their homes. Ball quickly distributed funds to Associacao Polo Universitario Santo Antonio (APUSA), a Brazilian non-profit organization which focused its efforts on rebuilding two elementary schools damaged by the cyclone.
Joyce Barbosa
Diversity & Inclusion
We draw strength and resilience from the diverse cultures that make up our employee population. We recognize and celebrate our employees for what makes them unique. We are committed to creating a workplace culture that encourages all employees to bring their authentic selves to work every day and contribute in unique and meaningful ways.
Last year, we introduced our expanded global diversity and inclusion goals. We established several immediate and long-term goals to ensure we remain an employer of choice. Immediate successes included establishing a holistic communication and training approach centered around allyship and integration of HR policies, practices, and benefits with D&I commitments. We’ve also pledged to tracking and reporting our progress.
Health & Safety
The health and safety of all of our employees at Ball is paramount. We are working hard to create a culture and environment in which zero injuries becomes the reality, so everyone working for or within Ball gets home safe and healthy to their families and friends every day.
We have put into practice a Global Operational Risk strategy to decrease injury rates. Our goal by2030: a 25% reduction in our Total Recordable Incident Rate from a 2020 baseline, on our journey to achieve world-class status for health and safety.
We are pleased to report that the packaging division’s overall safety-related injuries decreased year-over-year in 2023, including an over 50%reduction in severe injuries.
We will continue to improve our safety performance by aligning our management systems, focusing on mitigating high-risk situations and educating employees.
We do this by continuously investing in our operations to improve working conditions and the working environment. We are focused on identifying and mitigating the precursor conditions and at-risk behaviors that can lead to serious injuries.
Our Global Safety Centers of Excellence (CoEs)have been instrumental in driving home the message that collaboration is key to safety.
Four CoE teams have achieved Bronze Level designation in the last 18 months: Work at Height, Workplace Transport, Confined Space and Chemical Safety. In addition, we are developing five additional CoEs: Work Equipment, Fire Safety Property Protection, Hazardous Energy, Lifting and Travel Safety & Security.
During our World Week for Health &. Safety, we launched our Let’s Act Together 2023 campaign, which features events and instructions like our 5 Key Safe Behaviors and our Golden Rules for Safety.
Financial, Environmental & Social Data
View our Five-Year Review Reports and Sustainability Goals: