Carlsberg cans have got lighter, in partnership with Ball Corporation, to reduce their environmental impact.

Over the last three years, the brewer has worked with Ball – one of its biggest can suppliers – to cut the weight of its most common can formats (33 cl and 50 cl) by around 5% in more than ten European markets. 

This lightweighting is shrinking the value chain carbon footprint by around 5,000 tonnes per year. Through its longstanding partnership with Ball, Carlsberg is now implementing a joint roadmap of actions designed to drive progress towards their shared ambitions on sustainability. 

Lightweighting to reduce material use and cut carbon emissions is just one aspect of this roadmap. 

Carlsberg is also working to encourage consumers to return more of their used cans for recycling. Joint initiatives include a trial deposit return scheme in Serbia and it has included the “Metal Recycles Forever” logo on cans there to emphasise the infinite recyclability of aluminium. 

 Johan Keerberg, vice president for Group Procurement at Carlsberg Group, said: “Partnering with suppliers who share our values and commitment is key to reaching our ambitious targets on our journey Together Towards Zero and Beyond. 

“Our collaboration with Ball has already delivered notable improvements in lightweighting — a critical lever for decarbonisation and materials used in our shared value chain. Now we’re going further through joint efforts to increase the circularity of our cans,”

Björn Kulmann, VP for Sustainability at Ball Corporation, said: “We are pleased to continue to partner with Carlsberg and collaborate on our aligned goals, including a 90% recycling rate by 2030. Carbon reduction across our value chains is a key focus and lightweighting our cans is one way we have achieved this with Carlsberg, resulting in significant carbon savings in 2023.

“Our collaboration with Carlsberg will help us to meet our own Climate Transition Plan while delivering positive impact across our shared value chain.”