BROOMFIELD, Colo., May 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL) today released its fourth biennial sustainability report highlighting 2012 and 2013 progress, as well as goals for 2014, 2015 and beyond, in six key areas: innovation, operations, talent management, recycling, supply chain and community.

"Sustainability is an important part of Ball's culture and is vital to achieving our Drive for 10 vision, which will help create long-term shared value for the company and its stakeholders," said John A. Hayes, chairman, president and chief executive officer. "We made considerable progress in the reporting period and our commitment to sustainability has never been stronger. In fact, we're setting some ambitious new goals, as well as a bold, new target to reduce the carbon footprint of our beverage cans."

Highlights from the 2014 sustainability report include:

• Cut/4 CArboN: By 2020, Ball strives to reduce the carbon footprint of its most common beverage can formats by 25 percent. Ten percent will originate from efforts Ball can control, like lightweighting its cans and making its plants more energy efficient. The remaining 15 percent will come from work with industry partners to increase beverage can recycling rates and reduce the energy intensity of aluminum production.
• Aerospace: Ball Aerospace develops groundbreaking spacecraft, sensors, systems and components that provide critical climate and environmental data. For example, the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite contributes vital information for national forecasts, severe weather warnings, search and rescue operations, military contingency planning and environmental monitoring.
• Innovation: Ball introduced lighter weight aerosol and beverage cans in Europe. The innovative, new aerosol can, expected to launch in the Americas in 2015, is 10 percent lighter than previous cans and contains 25 percent recycled aluminum. The ultra-light, 33-centiliter aluminum beverage can weighs less than 10 grams and saves approximately 5 percent of metal compared to its predecessor.
• Operations: The company achieved a 7.8 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions globally in all of its businesses. Additionally, 33 of Ball's 61 worldwide manufacturing locations sent zero waste to landfill, and the company increased the amount of waste reused and recycled from 54 to 65 percent. Ball also improved its safety record, reducing its total recordable incident rate (recordable incidents per 200,000 hours worked) by 5 percent and finishing 2013 with a TRIR of 1.6, which is significantly lower than the manufacturing and metal can manufacturing industries as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2012.
• Talent Management: Seventy-six percent of employees participated in Ball's first global employee engagement survey, indicating a high level of engagement. Engaged employees are essential because they are committed, actively involved in and enthusiastic about work, and act in a way that furthers the organization's success. Survey feedback provided valuable information on the company's strengths and improvement opportunities.
• Recycling: Recycling steel and aluminum yields many benefits, including energy savings and greenhouse gas emission reductions, so Ball supports numerous programs to increase recycling. For example, Ball helped establish the Every Can Counts recycling program in seven European countries and has an ongoing partnership with the Curbside Value Partnership (CVP), which increased U.S. communities' participation in curbside recycling programs by 18 percent and recycling volumes by 23 percent on average.
• Supply Chain: In 2013, Ball joined the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI), which aims to develop a standard to foster responsible environmental, social and governance principles and performance throughout the aluminum value chain.
• Community: Ball employees contributed to the communities where they live and work financially and through countless volunteer hours. For example, U.S. and Canadian employees raised more than $1.4 million for charities as part of the company's corporate giving and community engagement campaign. The Ball Foundation awarded nearly $1.1 million in grants in 2012 and more than $2.4 million in 2013, including a $1 million pledge to support community relief efforts after the devastating floods that impacted Colorado in 2013.

For more information on Ball's sustainability performance, including best practices and stakeholder perspectives, please visit www.ball.com/sustainability.

About Ball Corporation
Ball Corporation supplies innovative, sustainable packaging solutions for beverage, food and household products customers, as well as aerospace and other technologies and services primarily for the U.S. government. Ball Corporation and its subsidiaries employ 14,500 people worldwide and reported 2013 sales of $8.5 billion. For more information, visit www.ball.com, or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.

Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains "forward-looking" statements concerning future events and financial performance. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "estimates" and similar expressions 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 in our Form 10-K, which are available on our website and at www.sec.gov. Factors that might affect: a) our packaging segments include product demand fluctuations; availability/cost of raw materials; competitive packaging, pricing and substitution; changes in climate and weather; crop yields; competitive activity; failure to achieve productivity improvements or cost reductions; mandatory deposit or other restrictive packaging laws; changes in major customer or supplier contracts or loss of a major customer or supplier; political instability and sanctions; and changes in foreign exchange or tax rates; b) our aerospace segment include funding, authorization, availability and returns of government and commercial contracts; and delays, extensions and technical uncertainties affecting segment contracts; c) the company as a whole include those listed plus: changes in senior management; successful or unsuccessful acquisitions and divestitures; regulatory action or issues including tax, environmental, health and workplace safety, including U.S. FDA and other actions or public concerns affecting products filled in our containers, or chemicals or substances used in raw materials or in the manufacturing process; technological developments and innovations; litigation; strikes; labor cost changes; rates of return on assets of the company's defined benefit retirement plans; pension changes; uncertainties surrounding the U.S. government budget, sequestration and debt limit; reduced cash flow; ability to achieve cost-out initiatives; interest rates affecting our debt.

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SOURCE Ball Corporation