The Beverage Industry’s Commitment to Sustainability

In addition to this inherent circularity, using recycled rather than virgin aluminum to make a beverage can also significantly reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. © Stockah – stock.adobe.com

The beverage industry looks inward and outward for ways to decrease its carbon footprint.

By Sandrine Duquerroy-Delesalle, Vice-President of Sustainability and External Affairs for Crown Holdings, Inc.

Sustainability in the beverage industry has increasingly gained significance over the last decade, transitioning from a buzzword to a key component of success and reshaping how companies operate in today’s global market. This transition has been spurred by consumer demand for environmentally friendly packaging and by a deeper understanding of how the industry’s activities impact our environment.

Sustainability in consumers’ purchasing choices has undergone its own transition from one of many factors they consider before purchasing a product, and is now a determining factor.  According to a Roundup.org survey, 62% of consumers report that they “always or often” seek out sustainable products and 43% are willing to pay extra for a product with sustainable packaging. It’s enough of a priority for consumers that 39% have switched to competing brands because they offer sustainable packaging while 90% are more likely to favor those brands which offer such packaging.

The beverage industry is acutely aware that nearly every stage of the supply chain impacts its carbon footprint, which is roughly 3.8% of global greenhouse gas emissions according to ESG The Report. Reflecting a broader industry commitment to environmental stewardship, beverage industry players are proactively driving innovative strategies and approaches, like lower carbon packaging, to mitigate their climate impact while meeting consumer demands and maintaining profitability.

Increasing Recycling Rates

The aluminum can check off all the right boxes — for consumers and the environment. Aluminum beverage cans provide the convenience and portability consumers are seeking in the sustainable format they are demanding while striving to achieve optimum circularity.  Aluminum beverage cans are infinitely recyclable, allowing for the package to be continuously reprocessed with no degradation in performance or quality. In addition to this inherent circularity, using recycled rather than virgin aluminum to make a beverage can also reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by up to 95% —aligning with the goals of net zero packaging according to the Can Manufacturers Institute.

Aluminum cans are the most recycled beverage package in the world with a higher global average recycling rate than PET bottles according to a report by the International Aluminum Can Institute. However, the United States is at the bottom of the pack according to the Aluminum Association. In 2023, the U.S. recycling rate was 43%, well below its average rate. Over 61 billion cans were tossed away in landfills that same year, totaling $1.2 billion worth of aluminum. This is part of a downward trend happening in the U.S. caused by numerous factors, including an aging infrastructure and a lack of recycling education.

Increasing Recycled Content in Products

Increased recycling rates are critical to extending the lifecycle of the industry’s products. As such, companies are actively engaging with trade associations and industry partners to advocate for more effective recycling policies in the areas where they operate; furthering progress through collaboration at global industry summits; and advancing consumer education around recycling and packaging circularity.

Increasing the recycled content in our products is also critical to extending their lifecycle. Companies are working closely with suppliers to integrate more recycled content into aluminum cans with some aiming to achieve an average 80% average recycled content by 2030. The industry is also looking inward and outward for ways to decrease its carbon footprint. Companies are setting their own climate goals but have also taken steps to establish more formal emissions reduction targets that have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) as aligned with the Paris Climate Agreement.

Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

To reduce their direct greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1), companies are equipping and enabling plant managers or operators to institute operational changes and new capital projects that reduce energy consumption. They are also addressing the indirect emissions from purchased electricity (Scope 2) by procuring renewable electricity certificates and identifying areas within their plants where they can reduce electricity usage.

There are also efforts underway to reduce the indirect emissions in the supply chain (Scope 3). Companies are targeting transportation-related emissions through pilot programs that use alternative diesel and prioritizing rail and sea transport over the roads to lower the carbon intensity of that result from long-distance shipments.

Sustainability and profit are not mutually exclusive. Industry members across all sectors can create value by integrating sustainability into their company’s DNA and discover that environmental stewardship is beneficial to their bottom line rather than contradictory. The industry’s commitment to environmental stewardship takes on heightened significance in light of recent climate change reports that underscore the urgency with which we must embrace stronger climate strategies.

Data from the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) latest State of the Global Climate report reveals that nearly a decade after 195 world leaders signed the Paris Agreement key climate change indicators have hit record levels the past two years, including greenhouse gas emissions. The WMO report particularly notes that 2024 experienced “exceptional land and sea surface temperatures and ocean heat,” and was the warmest year on record with a global mean temperature of 1.55°C—this surpasses the critical threshold of 1.5°C that the leaders in Paris sought to prevent by pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo referred to the report findings as a “wake-up call” about the increasing risk of climate change, cautioning that “We are making progress but need to go further and need to go faster.”

UN Secretary-General Antóno Guterres echoed those comments and reminded the global community that the recent data doesn’t mean the long-term climate goal is no longer achievable, but rather “It means we need to fight even harder to get on track … There’s still time to avoid the worst of climate catastrophe. But leaders must act – now.”

The Paris Agreement set down ambitious environmental markers for nations around the world, and the beverage industry is determined to play a critical role in meeting those markers while safeguarding our planet for future generations.

About the Author

Sandrine Duquerroy-Delesalle is Vice-President of Sustainability and External Affairs for Crown Holdings, Inc., where she is responsible for leading the Company’s Global Sustainability team and overseeing the implementation of its Global Sustainability Program. Visit: https://crowncork.com/