The partnership has enabled Ball to reduce the emission by 82% for its inbound supply chain to the UK via the main deep seaports between March 2021 and September 2022

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Ball partners with Woodland Group to reduce its carbon emission via a series of investments. (Credit: Woodland Group)

Aluminium packaging firm Ball has collaborated with global supply chain company Woodland Group to reduce the former’s carbon emissions via a series of rail and energy investments.

The partnership has enabled US-based Ball to reduce the emissions by 82% for its inbound supply chain to the UK via the main deep seaports between March 2021 and September 2022.

Under the partnership, Woodland Group started a new rail route for Ball within the transport chain at its Doncaster facility for substantial carbon reduction savings. The facility is strategically located near the iPort rail hub.

According to the supply chain firm, this rail initiative allowed the company to reduce Ball’s inland carbon footprint by 886 tonnes of carbon across 1442 FEUs (forty-foot equivalent containers). This equates to 4.35 times fewer emissions than the road route.

Woodland Group claims that the project also ran the freight trucking system more efficiently, resulting in fewer demurrage penalties for the late collection of containers and goods compared to the previous year.

At Ball’s Doncaster location, Woodland installed LED lighting with motion detection and lux-level detection, resulting in a 70% reduction in cost and energy use.

These light fixtures can only now produce 90% of their maximum brightness, resulting in energy savings and increased fixture longevity, the supply chain firm added.

Ball Beverage Packaging EMEA logistics development manager Jack Harrison said: “We are actively finding ways to reduce our carbon footprint by moving to intermodal solutions and alternative fuels across EMEA.

“This is a great step forward to ensure our supply chain offers a competitive advantage to our customer base by offering a smarter and greener supply chain.

“This is credit to our partnership with Woodland Group and we look forward to future initiatives that can deliver even greater value.”

Woodland Group used its carbon calculator tool to offer intermodal transport chain emissions reports across timelines. Both partners identified precisely where reductions could be achieved.

This partnership was signed in February 2021 to develop carbon-conscious supply chain projects and support the development of solutions that would reduce emissions throughout the fulfilment value chain.