Ball Corporation, a leading global provider of sustainable aluminum packaging for beverages, personal care and home products, announced the acquisition of Alucan, a European leader in extruded aluminum aerosol and bottle technology. The acquisition complements Ball’s existing global extruded aluminum aerosol and bottle business with the addition of manufacturing facilities in Llinars del Vallés (Barcelona), Spain, and Lummen, Belgium.

This acquisition aligns with Ball’s business strategy to simplify sustainability for its customers by delivering scalable aluminum packaging solutions. The new plants will enable the company to meet the growing demand for sustainable packaging across Europe. Both facilities are equipped with cutting-edge technology and aim to minimise their environmental footprint, aligning Ball’s dedication to sustainability and operational excellence.

Ball continues to serve new categories and offer reuse, refill bottle innovations to a broader set of customers and occasions. Acquisition of Alucan will add large-diameter aerosol can and impact extruded bottles capabilities to support Ball’s existing reusable bottles customers. This acquisition allows the company to diversify its customer base, cross-sell with food and beverage manufacturers, and expand its bottle offerings to include personal and home care products.

This acquisition allows Ball to enhance its efforts in innovation and reduce its carbon footprint. The company will lightweight and increase the recycled content in Alucan cans, while being in close proximity to its customers will help optimise truck capacity, ultimately reducing CO₂ emissions.

Acquisition of Alucan is an important step forward for Ball Corporation as it looks to better serve the growing aerosol and impact-extruded bottle market in Europe.

Novelis Inc., a leading sustainable aluminum solutions provider and a world leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, announced it will invest USD 2.5 billion to build a new low-carbon recycling and rolling plant in Bay Minette, Alabama, US. The highly advanced facility will have an initial 600 kilotonnes of finished aluminum goods capacity per year.

“This investment marks the start of another transformational growth phase for Novelis,” said Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group and the Novelis Board of Directors. “We continue to invest in each of the markets Novelis serves – from beverage can to automotive, aerospace and specialties – and in all geographies. Novelis has a track record of success in delivering customers the low-carbon, sustainable aluminum solutions they seek, and we will continue that storied history with this investment and others to come.”

More than half of the capacity of the new facility will be used to serve growing demand for aluminum beverage can sheet in North America, which is driven by consumer preference for more sustainable packaging.

“Through this investment, we are making a demonstrative commitment to continue to grow alongside our customers and meet their needs for low-carbon, highly sustainable aluminum solutions,” said Steve Fisher, President and CEO of Novelis Inc. “In addition, we are well-positioned to efficiently expand capacity at this facility in the future – above the 600 kt announced today – to capture ongoing strong demand. Our readiness to invest to serve growing markets is a perfect example of how we are delivering on our company purpose of shaping a sustainable world together.”

Novelis’ decision to build a fully integrated, greenfield recycling and rolling plant is backed by strong North American demand for flat-rolled, low-carbon aluminum from can makers and beverage companies. Aluminum beverage cans, bottles and cups are the models of sustainable packaging and the circular economy. With an average “can-to-can” lifecycle of just a couple of months, a can that is recycled today can be back on store shelves in as little as 60 days.

“As the world’s leading supplier of infinitely recyclable aluminum beverage packaging, Ball is committed to creating a circular economy within the aluminum industry and decarbonizing the value chain is fundamental to this work,” said Ron Lewis, Ball Corporation’s chief operating officer, global beverage packaging. “Novelis’ new recycling and rolling plant will not only add much needed domestic production of sustainable aluminum here in North America but will do so while decreasing the carbon footprint of the products we create.”

The facility will be the first fully integrated aluminum mill built in the U.S. in 40 years. It is expected to create up to 1,000 high-paying, advanced careers in modern manufacturing. It will also be the most sophisticated and sustainable of its kind. It will aim to be net carbon neutral for Scope 1 and 2, be powered primarily by renewable energy, use recycled water and be a zero-waste facility. It will also rely on railroad transportation, which can reduce logistics-related carbon emissions by up to 70 % compared to road transport. The plant will make significant use of advanced automation and digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, augmented reality and robotics.

With the addition of a new recycling center for beverage cans, Novelis will soon be able to recycle 90 billion cans globally, up from the 74 billion used beverage cans the company currently recycles. To support this, Novelis has been working to develop circular economies for aluminum through state and federal public policies, as well as through partnerships with customers and other stakeholders on new approaches that encourage and incentivise U.S. consumers to recycle more often.

“Aluminum cans are an important form of packaging that, when recycled, play a vital role in our overall efforts to reduce waste,” said John Murphy, Chief Financial Officer of The Coca-Cola Company. “The announcement of this new, low-carbon recycling and rolling facility by our longtime partners at Novelis will benefit the Coca-Cola system, our customers and consumers, while reducing impact on the environment.”

Site work is under way now and the company expects to begin commissioning in mid-2025.

In addition to the beverage can market, the facility will also serve the automotive market, where aluminum is the fastest growing material as automakers make plans to achieve their sustainability goals.