All Crown employees in the EMEA region received a personalised ‘Libra’ can to celebrate its milestone achievement.

Crown has made an ambitious plan to decrease GHG emissions by reducing packaging material use by making aluminium cans 10% lighter in weight by 2030 (compared to a 2019 baseline).

In 2021, after several years of intensive development efforts, its R&D and Customer Technical Services (CTS) teams achieved a 4% global average reduction in our standard 12 oz. (330 ml) can weight. 

The CTS team, composed of expert engineers offering training and production analysis support, was pivotal in ensuring these lighter-weight cans did not sacrifice performance or the critical barrier and strength properties that brand owners’ demand. 

Lightweighting efforts add to metal’s superior properties in terms of recyclability and the benefits are compounded as the material circulates through the process time and time again. 

Weight reductions allow Crown to produce more cans with the same amount of aluminium used previously for standard cans, which has a positive impact on GHG emissions through energy savings.

To celebrate these achievements, their own commemorative can, known as “Libra,” was born. Weighing less than 10 grams, it is a creative way to celebrate years of collaborative partnership with our customers, who helped Crown achieve this lightweighing milestone by making their equipment available for full line filling and processing simulations with the CTS team.

 The commemorative cans were decorated using our advanced Accents variable printing technology and feature 24 different variations printed across two runs. They were produced in our plant in Kechnec, Slovakia.

All Crown employees in the EMEA region received a personalised “Libra” can as part of the celebration. The design also features a quick response (QR) code which links directly to a fun and engaging augmented reality experience about recycling, developed by Zappar. 

Players were challenged to recycle cans to score points and were able to take a quiz to test their knowledge about metal recyclability and increase education about the issue.