Packaging manufacturer Ball Corp. and aluminum recycler and supplier Novelis announced the Ball Aluminum Cup™ is now composed of 90% recycled content. This evolution further positions the product as a sustainable solution across the sports and entertainment, food service, retail, and beverage industries.

Westminster, Colo.-based Ball designed the lightweight cups to bring beverage packaging circularity to sports and entertainment venues in response to growing consumer preference for more sustainable products. Producing the cup with 90% recycled content uses 95% less energy than doing so with primary aluminum. Ball recently received Cradle to Cradle Certified® Bronze for the cup.

“We are excited to partner with Novelis to bring a Ball Aluminum Cup made with 90% recycled content to communities everywhere,” states Dan Fisher, Ball’s president and CEO.

Steve Fisher, president and CEO of Novelis, says the company’s supply chain strategy is called “Shaping a Sustainable World Together,” where Novelis works with its customers to promote sustainable materials. “Aluminum beverage packages—bottles, cans and cups alike—are a perfect product for the circular economy as they can be recycled over and over without ever losing their material properties,” Fisher says.

Ball’s cups, manufactured in Rome, Ga., are helping to drive sustainability at sports and entertainment venues across the country, including at Ball Arena in Denver; SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles; Hard Rock Stadium in Miami; State Farm Arena in Atlanta; Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis; and Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.

At Ball Arena, aluminum beverage packaging has helped to eliminate more than 350,000 single-use plastic cups and bottles, and the arena is on pace to eliminate more than 1 million single-use plastic cups and bottles in 2022.

Toledo, Ohio-based Kripke Enterprises has announced the second year of its collaboration with the Sylvania, Ohio, recreation department, and a new partnership with the Red Bird Sylvania downtown arts district. Kripke will provide Ball aluminum cups for all public events during the 2022 season at Sylvania’s Centennial Terrace outdoor concert and event venue, and for the city’s Local Fest 2022 on June 18.

“Last year was fantastic!” says Mark McMahon, operations manager at Sylvania Recreation. “The cups check all the boxes: They look great, they are easy to recycle and keep your drinks colder longer.”

Kripke Chief Strategy Officer Andy Golding says the partnership is part of the company’s mission to increase recycling awareness. “As members of the recycling industry, it’s important we help however we can,” he says.

Photo courtesy of Ball Corp.