24.06.2010

Ball increases sustainability in beverage can production

European plants achieve significant reductions in electricity, natural gas and water consumption

Ratingen, 24 June 2010 – Ball Corporation, parent company of beverage can manufacturer Ball Packaging Europe, has reached another milestone in implementing its group-wide sustainability program. The company's second sustainability report outlines the worldwide achievements, objectives and activities of Ball and its subsidiaries in 2008 and 2009. Over the past two years, Ball has invested more than US $36 million in energy efficiency programs. This includes around €5 million spent last year on energy saving programs for beverage can production in Europe.

Ball Packaging Europe has achieved significant savings in the energy consumption and resources required to manufacture beverage cans. In its European plants, the amount of natural gas consumed per 1,000 cans manufactured decreased by 11 percent between 2007 and 2009. For the period between 2003 and 2009, this figure is 30 percent. The amount of electricity required to produce 1,000 cans decreased by 9 percent between 2007 and 2009, with CO2 emissions dropping by 10 percent over the same period. "We are working systematically to improve and control our energy and resource efficiency, define objectives and initiate programs to make both our production processes and the business as a whole more sustainable,” says Björn Kulmann, Manager Sustainability at Ball Packaging Europe.

Ball has invested substantially in continually improving the environmental friendliness of its production processes. Between 2008 and 2009, around €5 million was spent on modernizing production systems in Europe to increase energy efficiency.

Air compressors are among the most energy-consuming machines in the production process. Therefore, the company’s special focus is on modernizing its pressure compressors. Ball did this for example in its British beverage can plants Rugby and Wrexham in 2009, thus significantly reducing energy consumption.
In 2009, the company invested around €500,000 each in installing a so-called adsorption rotor in the afterburning plant at its facilities in Hermsdorf, Germany and Bierne, France. This system is used to clean the air in the afterburning process using significantly less energy.
In the past two years, an energy information system has been introduced in all European plants, making it possible to continually analyze energy use and to achieve a medium-term reduction in energy use of around 2 percent a year.

The focus in the future will be on further energy, material and waste savings at beverage can manufacturing facilities. Over the next two years (2010/2011), Ball Packaging Europe is planning to reduce its electricity use in Europe by a further 8 percent, while also lowering natural gas and water consumption by 4.9 percent each per 1,000 cans produced.

Social responsibility
Social issues are also an important part of Ball’s sustainability strategy. As part of this, Ball is continually working to improve workplace safety at all its plants. Accordingly, the number of reportable industrial accidents fell by 50 per cent between 2005 and 2009. Last year Ball Packaging Europe received the international OHSAS 18001 certificate for its management systems regarding the maintenance of industrial health and safety standards. Ball is one of the first companies to have received this certificate not just for individual plants but for its organization as a whole.

Group-wide improvements
Since 2008, Ball Corporation has been working across the group to further develop their sustainability strategy and to harmonize their worldwide processes. As a result of this activity, short- and medium-term goals have been formulated for all business areas within the group, centered on five key sustainability focus areas: packaging; energy; water and waste; safety at work; talent development.  In the future, a system will be implemented for gathering multiple sustainability indicators. In this way, Ball will be increasing the transparency of their operations and enabling the effective steering of their sustainability activities. "Sustainability is firmly anchored in our corporate culture and operations, and plays a key role in our success," says R. David Hoover, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ball Corporation.

The Ball Corporation Sustainability Report 2010 and additional information concerning the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines are available at www.ball.com/sustainability.

Contact:
Sylvia Blömker
Director Public Relations
Phone: +49 2102 130 451
Mobile: +49 172 514 1503
sylvia_bloemker@ball-europe.com

Ball Packaging Europe
Ball Packaging Europe is one of the leading European beverage can manufacturers, employing 2,900 people at 13 sites in Germany, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Poland and Serbia. The company is a subsidiary of Ball Corporation, a supplier of high-quality metal and plastic packaging for beverage, food and household products customers, and of aerospace and other technologies and services, primarily for the U.S. government. Ball Corporation and its subsidiaries employ more than 14,000 people worldwide and reported 2009 sales of approx. 7.3 billion US dollars.

Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains "forward-looking" statements concerning future events and financial performance. Words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Key risks and uncertainties are summarized in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Exhibit 99.2 in our Form 10-K, which are available at our Web site and at www.sec.gov. Factors that might affect our packaging segments include fluctuation in product demand and preferences; availability and cost of raw materials; competitive packaging availability, pricing and substitution; changes in climate and weather; crop yields; competitive activity; failure to achieve anticipated productivity improvements or production cost reductions; mandatory deposit or other restrictive packaging laws; changes in major customer or supplier contracts or loss of a major customer or supplier; and changes in foreign exchange rates or tax rates. Factors that might affect our aerospace segment include: funding, authorization, availability and returns of government and commercial contracts; and delays, extensions and technical uncertainties affecting segment contracts. Factors that might affect the company as a whole include those listed plus: accounting changes; changes in senior management; the current global recession and its effects on liquidity, credit risk, asset values and the economy; successful or unsuccessful acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures; integration of recently acquired businesses; regulatory action or laws including tax, environmental, health and workplace safety, including in respect of climate change, or chemicals or substances used in raw materials or in the manufacturing process; governmental investigations; technological developments and innovations; goodwill impairment; antitrust, patent and other litigation; strikes; labor cost changes; rates of return projected and earned on assets of the company's defined benefit retirement plans; pension changes; reduced cash flow; interest rates affecting our debt; and changes to unaudited results due to statutory audits or other effects.

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