Ball Impact Extruded Beverage Bottle

Impact Extruded Beverage Bottles / Source: Ball

AfricaAluminiumAsiaBeautyEuropeFood & BeverageFood GradeFreezer SafeLeak ProofLightweightNorth AmericaPackagingRecyclableRecycledRigidSealableSouth AmericaStrong

WHAT WE SAY:

Moving consumers away from plastic often requires a near like-for-like swap. That's what Ball is aiming for with its recyclable and customisable impact extruded beverage bottles.

Made from aluminium and available in an array of recognisable silhouettes, the bottles are ideal for everything from beer to milk. They may be more expensive, but with nearly 150 years of experience under its belt and 110 billion units of packaging shipped annually, this is a company with the reach and logistics to give plastic bottles a run for their money.

Impact Extruded Beverage Bottle

WHAT IS THE IMPACT EXTRUDED BEVERAGE BOTTLE?

Ball's impact extruded beverage bottles (IEBB) are made from Aluminium using an efficient, reliable, and low-cost production method, ideal for making bottles, tubes, and cans.
To form the bottles, a punch forces the metal either into or around a die. The process quickly creates strong, uniform products.
The bottles are available in four models. BEBO (short-neck) and BEBO2 (long-neck) both feature pry-off lids. BEBO3 is a twist-off available for hot or cold fill and "suitable for pasteurisation", and ATB-E is a twist-off with a liquid capacity of up to 22 ounces.
All models are designed to mimic existing silhouettes of other materials such as glass beer bottles or plastic water bottles. However, their mono-material aluminium construction means they are infinitely recyclable and — Ball claims — unbreakable.
Further boosting recyclability, all models of the IEBB use Ball’s Eyeris high-definition printing, so no Paper or plastic labels are needed. The company offers a wide range of design finishes, including "specialty inks, overvarnishes, special effects and custom shaping ... temperature-sensitive colour-changing text and Day-Glo graphics, crystal-clear photographic renderings, or artwork you can touch."
The IEBB uses varying amounts of recycled and virgin aluminium, as per customer requests.
Technically, the bottles could be made from nearly 100% recycled materials, but Predrag Ozmo, head of sustainability at Ball, told Packaging Insights, "People often ask why 50% [recycled aluminium]. We can go higher in practice, but there isn’t enough recycled aluminium on the market today to satisfy global demand … Aluminium is a high-quality material being used in long-lasting applications … and you obviously can’t recycle your airplane every two weeks, so we have to make up for that."
The global aluminium recycling efficiency rate is 76% compared to just 9% for plastics. That makes for an easy choice in terms of the environment, however IEBBs are more than twice the price of single-use plastic bottles, posing a significant cost barrier.
Ball is a Fortune 500 company, and sales of its IEBB and aluminium aerosol containers rose 12% across 2022 — growth we need to see when 583.3 billion single-use plastic bottles were made in 2021.

KEY PROPERTIES:

Food Grade
Freezer Safe
Leak Proof
Lightweight
Recyclable
Recycled
Rigid
Sealable
Strong

INDUSTRY:

Beauty
Food & Beverage
Packaging

AVAILABILITY:

Mass Market

DIVE DEEPER:

Ball’s IEBB tackles two fronts in the bottling business: Glass and plastic. While glass is also an infinitely recyclable material with high recycling rates, it's fragile and can be heavy, increasing emissions from transport.
Plastic is light, durable, and technically recyclable. However, it isn’t collected or recycled anywhere near as efficiently as aluminium, nor can it be recycled infinitely, losing quality with each cycle. While 69% of aluminium cans are recycled worldwide, just 27% of plastic bottles are recycled. In addition, recycled plastic bottles have been shown to leach chemicals at much higher rates than virgin plastic, severely impacting our health, from decreased fertility to higher cancer rates.
Ball claims that due to the recycling efficiency of aluminium, empty beverage cans take only 60 days to reappear on a shop shelf as a new can.
Nearly 75% of all aluminium ever produced is still in use today, proving its superior recyclability.
Aluminium is the third most abundant element in the Earth’s crust, behind oxygen and silicon. After iron, it is the most widely used metal worldwide. At the current rate of extraction, the known reserves of bauxite — the raw material used to make aluminium — will last more than 100 years.
The slugs used in the IEBB impact extrusion process are made by En+ Metal. Through inert anode technology and renewable energy-based smelting, the aluminium production generates 85% less CO2e than the industry standard, according to the producer, thereby reducing the inherent carbon footprint of the IEBB.
All bottles are made at Ball manufacturing plants in France and Mexico.
Ball has nearly 150 years of manufacturing experience, beginning with making tin cases in 1880.
In 2022, the company was named in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.
By 2030, the company aims to achieve a 90% global aluminium recycling rate for cans, bottles, and cups, and an average of 85% recycled content for the aluminium it uses.

The BEBO3 model features a twist-off closure for hot or cold fill / Source: Ball

The BEBO2 model has a pry-off lid and a longneck design / Source: Ball

KEY FACTS:

12%

Sales of Ball's IEBB and aluminium aerosol containers rose 12% across 2022

583bn

single-use plastic bottles were made in 2021

76%

The recycling rate for aluminium worldwide is 76%

Key Questions to Ask:

Is price a concern?

Ball’s IEBBs are more expensive than plastic and glass. However, broad consumer sustainability buy-in and resource independence could mitigate extra production costs. And, with Extended Producer Responsibility laws being enacted in many places, eliminating the need to pay for plastic waste clean-ups could pay dividends.

Are you promoting collection and recycling?

The recyclability of aluminium is great, as long as your customers know where and how to dispose of it. Ball is working with industry partners to increase recycling rates globally — could you do the same?

Is aluminium best for your product?

IEBB aims to replace both plastic and glass. Any replacement for plastic is always welcome, but there are instances where glass is the best choice, environmentally and logistically. Always run the numbers and ensure you're making the most suitable choice.

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Ball Impact Extruded Beverage Bottle

WHAT WE SAY:

Moving consumers away from plastic often requires a near like-for-like swap. That's what Ball is aiming for with its recyclable and customisable impact extruded beverage bottles.

WHAT IS THE IMPACT EXTRUDED BEVERAGE BOTTLE?

KEY PROPERTIES:

INDUSTRY:

AVAILABILITY:

Mass Market

DIVE DEEPER:

Ball’s IEBB tackles two fronts in the bottling business: Glass and plastic. While glass is also an infinitely recyclable material with high recycling rates, it's fragile and can be heavy, increasing emissions from transport.

Ball claims that due to the recycling efficiency of aluminium, empty beverage cans take only 60 days to reappear on a shop shelf as a new can.

Nearly 75% of all aluminium ever produced is still in use today, proving its superior recyclability.

Aluminium is the third most abundant element in the Earth’s crust, behind oxygen and silicon. After iron, it is the most widely used metal worldwide. At the current rate of extraction, the known reserves of bauxite — the raw material used to make aluminium — will last more than 100 years.

All bottles are made at Ball manufacturing plants in France and Mexico.

Ball has nearly 150 years of manufacturing experience, beginning with making tin cases in 1880.

In 2022, the company was named in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

By 2030, the company aims to achieve a 90% global aluminium recycling rate for cans, bottles, and cups, and an average of 85% recycled content for the aluminium it uses.

KEY FACTS:

12%

583bn

76%

Key Questions to Ask:

Is price a concern?

Are you promoting collection and recycling?

Is aluminium best for your product?

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