Under the contract, Novelis, a subsidiary of Hindalco Industries, will supply aluminium sheets to Ball can making plants in North America to meet the growing demand for the firm's beverage can sheets
Novelis and Ball partner for aluminium beverage can sheets. (Credit: Muhammad Syahid Abdillah on Unsplash)
Aluminium solutions provider Novelis has inked a new anchor customer agreement to supply aluminium beverage can sheets to aluminium can maker Ball Corporation in North America.
Under the contract, Novelis, a subsidiary of Hindalco Industries, will supply aluminium sheets to Ball can making plants in North America.
With this deal and other commitments, Novelis has secured all the beverage can production capacity at its new facility in Bay Minette, Alabama. The deal also showed the growing demand for the firm’s beverage can sheets with a high percentage of recycled material.
The new facility, which is anticipated to start production in 2025, is said to be the first fully integrated aluminium manufacturing facility built in the US in almost 40 years.
It will initially be able to produce 600,000 tonnes of finished goods, mainly for the North American beverage can and automobile industries, the aluminium solutions provider said.
Novelis CEO and president Steve Fisher said: “Securing contracts for beverage can production capacity at Bay Minette two years before the plant is expected to be completed demonstrates our customers’ confidence in our ability to plan, construct and operate our new plant in Alabama.
“We’re proud to continue our partnership with Ball in such a meaningful way and look forward to bringing our new plant online in the next couple of years.”
Novelis and Ball’s partnership enhances both firms’ sustainability goals by incorporating closed-loop recycling and joint efforts to boost beverage can recycling.
The aluminium solutions provider recovers the manufacturing waste produced during the can-making process through closed-loop recycling processes and recycles it into fresh can sheet, which is subsequently turned into new beverage cans.
Novelis recycles more than 82 billion discarded beverage cans annually into new aluminium for beverage packaging along with this continuous loop.
Ball global beverage packaging SVP & chief operating officer Ron Lewis said: “Novelis is a critical partner in helping Ball reach our carbon footprint reduction goals and achieving full circularity for aluminium beverage packaging.”
The new agreement builds on Novelis and Ball’s decades-long collaboration, which began with a shared commitment to innovation and sustainability.