Ball Corporation reported a decline in the proportion of recycled aluminium used in its beverage packaging in several major markets in 2025, although improvements were observed in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia (EMEA), according to its annual report.

At the global level, 74 per cent of the aluminium used in the company’s beverage packaging was sourced from recycled materials, which remained unchanged from the previous year. Declines were seen in North and Central America, where the proportion was down to 72 per cent, representing a decrease of three percentage points from 2024. In South America, it decreased by five percentage points to 73 per cent. In contrast, the EMEA region recorded an increase to 77 per cent, up eight points from the previous year.

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The company has set a target of achieving 85 per cent recycled content in its aluminium beverage packaging, including cans, bottles, and cups, by 2030. In 2025, Ball Corporation produced and shipped approximately 111.9 billion units of aluminium packaging globally.

The company said, “Increasing recycled content is one of Ball’s most effective levers for reducing the carbon intensity of our products.” In addition, the company is collaborating with industry partners to achieve a global recycling rate of 90 per cent for aluminium beverage containers. At present, the global recycling rate stands at 75 per cent, according to the 2025 Eunomia Global Beverage Recycling Dataset report, commissioned by the International Aluminium Institute’s Global Beverage Can Circularity Alliance, of which Ball Corporation is a member.

In 2025, the company recycled 355,317 tonnes of scrap metal, reflecting an increase of 3.5 per cent compared to the previous year.

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The company is also focusing on product design to improve recyclability. This includes collaboration with industry partners and the European Aluminium Packaging Group to develop can ends using alternative alloys that allow for higher recycled content. The objective is to achieve recycled content levels in can ends comparable to those in can bodies.

In Europe, the German company Beiersdorf announced that all aerosol cans used for its personal care products, produced by Ball, are made from 100 per cent post-consumer recycled aluminium.

The company has also undertaken initiatives to improve recycling awareness, collection systems, and end-use markets. In partnership with Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, Ball achieved its goal of recycling 3 million cups, cans, and bottles during the 2024-25 NBA and NHL seasons. One initiative included an interactive recycling system designed to encourage consumer participation.

Additional efforts included support for recycling programmes at music festivals along the Adriatic coast. These programmes, developed in collaboration with companies and organisations like Coca-Cola, Garden Brewery, and the nonprofit Solagro, used collection systems equipped with real-time validation technology and mobile collection units. Participants who deposited cans received printed acknowledgements linked to small donations to local nonprofit organisations.

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In another initiative, Ball collaborated with Ambev, a major Latin American beverage company and a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev, to pilot a project under a global Accelerator Program. This program connects startups with companies to address supply chain and environmental challenges. The project aimed to improve the collection and commercialisation of recyclable materials from points of sale and to optimise collection routes by linking waste pickers with recyclers.

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The findings indicated that scaling such initiatives requires the development of shared collection systems and an increase in aluminium recovery at points of sale. The report also highlighted the economic value of post-consumer aluminium and its potential to improve the income of waste collectors.