SUSTAINABLE manufacturer Ball Beverage Packaging EMEA has reduced its inbound supply chain carbon emissions by 82% following a partnership with global supply chain company Woodland Group. - SPNews

The carbon reductions took place between March 2021 and September 2022.

Woodland Group initiated a new rail route for Ball within the transport chain at its Doncaster facility which resulted in 4.35 times less emissions across 1,442 FEU’s (forty-foot equivalent containers).

This equates to 886 tonnes of carbon less than if all the containers travelled by road.

The initiative also meant the freight trucking system ran more efficiently, leading to less demurrage penalties for the late collection of containers and goods compared to the previous year.

Woodland Group also reduced the cost and energy consumption by 70% by installing motion sensing and lux-level detection LED lighting at the Doncaster site.

Both companies identified precisely where reductions could be achieved through a carbon calculator tool.

We are actively finding ways to reduce our carbon footprint by moving to intermodal solutions and alternative fuels across EMEA. This is a great step forward to ensure our supply chain offers a competitive advantage to our customer base by offering a smarter and greener supply chain. This is credit to our partnership with Woodland Group and we look forward to future initiatives that can deliver even greater value.

Jack Harrison, Logistics Development Manager for Ball Beverage Packaging EMEA

This partnership was forged in February 2021 with the aim of pioneering carbon-conscious supply chain projects and to encourage the development of solutions that will drive down emissions right across the fulfilment value chain.

Having the opportunity to work closely with Ball Beverage Packaging on driving carbon conscious initiatives through the supply chain has been a vital component to our partnership. Achieving 82% reduction on emissions on inland freight so far as a result is credit to our collective teams’ commitment, innovative thinking, and collaborative approach, and we’re excited to build on this further. Working with clients like Ball is a real pleasure and seeing shared vision and sustainability objectives create tangible change is incredibly encouraging for us and our industry’s future. Together we are already looking at new objectives for future development of carbon-conscious solutions that create opportunity and deliver sustainable supply chains.

Luke Fermor, Head of Fulfilment for Woodland Group

Ball, the world’s leading supplier of innovative, sustainable aluminium packaging solutions for beverage, personal care, and household products, has long been committed to sustainability goals and KPIs, with its climate change plan approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative.