Inside the World's Largest Aluminum Packaging Manufacturer with Predrag Ozmo of Ball Corporation

In this episode, Cory Connors welcomes  Predrag Ozmo to discuss the sustainability story behind Ball Corporation — the world's largest aluminum packaging manufacturer, producing more than 100 billion cans per year. Predrag shares his background growing up in Serbia and his early career at MiTeCo, a hazardous waste management company specializing in chemical, pharmaceutical, and PCB waste, before moving to Inos Balkan (part of the Greek Anamet group), a metal recycling company, and then joining Ball in 2019. He explains why aluminum is often called an "energy bank" — a truly circular material that can be recycled endlessly, with up to 95% energy savings versus primary production. Predrag walks through Ball's climate transition plan and its 2030 and 2050 goals, the decarbonization pathways for primary aluminum (hydropower, inert anodes, and the ELYSIS breakthrough), the growing importance of recycled content, and the innovative partnerships that are bringing refillable and first-of-their-kind aluminum packaging to market.

Key Topics Discussed:

• Predrag's journey from metal recycling at MiTeCo in Serbia to sustainability leadership at Ball Corporation
• Ball Corporation's scale as the world's largest aluminum packaging manufacturer (100+ billion cans per year)
• Aluminum as a circular, infinitely recyclable "energy bank" material
• The 95% energy savings achieved when aluminum is recycled versus primary production
• Ball's climate transition plan and 2030 / 2050 sustainability goals
• Decarbonization of primary aluminum through hydropower, inert anodes, and the ELYSIS technology
• The role of recycled content in reducing packaging's carbon footprint
• Ball's partnership with Meadow for refillable soap and shampoo in aluminum bottles
• Brazil partnership with Sofie and Aeroflaks on the first ASI-certified aluminum aerosol can
• Unilever and Alcoa's ELYSIS pilot as a model for low-carbon primary metal
• The 10–15 year vision for aluminum packaging and the circular economy
• Why aluminum's infinite recyclability makes it a long-term sustainability winner

Resources Mentioned:

• Ball Corporation
• ELYSIS
• Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI)
• Meadow (refillable aluminum personal care packaging)

Contact:

Listeners can learn more or reach out to Predrag directly:

• LinkedIn
• Ball Corporation

Thank you for tuning in to Sustainable Packaging with Cory Connors!

Support our Sponsors 

Learn more here:

- 3M

- Specright

- Forest 

Connect with Cory

Connect with Cory on LinkedIn here: 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cory-connors/

I'm here to help you make your packaging more sustainable! Reach out today and I'll get back to you asap. 

This podcast is an independent production and the podcast production is an original work of the author. All rights of ownership and reproduction are retained—copyright 2022.

Transcript

0:06

Welcome to Sustainable Packaging with Cory Connors presented by Atlantic Packaging. I'm your host, Cory Connors. In today's episode, I connected with Predrick Ozmo. He is the sustainability director at the Ball Corporation. They are the world's largest aluminum packaging manufacturer. We talk about everything from cans of Coca-Cola to new innovations like beauty products in aluminum packaging. I'd also like to thank our sponsors, 3M and Specright. We couldn't do this show without them. Welcome again, Mr. Predrag Ozmo the sustainability director at Ball Corporation. I'm so excited to have you on, sir. Thank you. Thanks for inviting me. It was great to meet you over in Paris at Paris packaging week in person. And we commiserated over sore feet and that was really fun. But I was presenting about one of your products. And that was an awesome panel with the, with the team from Meadow and Ball together partnering with a brand. But before we get into all that stuff, let's talk about you. If they don't know who you are, what, do you do at Ball? How did sustainability become your focus? Yeah, again, thanks for having me here great to be on this podcast. Yeah short about me in the past seven years at all I would say my roles have evolved quite a bit I first looked after sustainability for our aerosol business then moved into working with our major beverage customers like coal Pepsi ABI Heineken Carl Berg and others and since 2024 I've been focused on our personal home care division and our growth ventures where I today serve as global sustainability director. And in general, sustainability has really been a constant throughout my career because before joining VOL, I spent many years at MiTeCo company here in Serbia. So hi to anybody from that company watching this. And we were working with hazardous waste, chemical, industrial, pharmaceutical, and later I moved into the metal recycling sector. So I've kind of always been. in the space where materials and environmental responsibility and circularity meet, And joining BOL in 2019 was a logical step and a huge great step for me because it really offered me a chance to work at the global scale and where decisions you can, decisions you make can generally move the needle across entire value chains. You can really influence the change on a global level. And that's what really excited me the most at the time and what really excites me today. Well, you're doing great things over there. And a lot of people might not know that Ball Corporation is the largest aluminum packaging manufacturer in the world. And I think that's really important that we think about all that, how many aluminum cans and bottles and other kinds of materials that you're making. Can you tell us a little bit about your day to day uh at your job? Yeah, is world's largest aluminum packaging manufacturer. We produce over 100 billion cans per year. And my role at Ball covers, I think, the entire aluminum packaging value chain. But maybe the best way to describe it is that the role sits at the intersection of science, operations, regulation, customer expectation, basically internal collaboration, everything. any random given day I might be working with one of our primary aluminum suppliers on lower carbon metal or with our operations team on reducing emissions or with a major brand owner or customers to rethink their packaging to make it more circular and more future-proof. And I have to say this role is extremely rewarding for me because BOL is genuinely committed to the sustainability agenda and it's not just marketing language, it's really embedded into strategy. It's embedded into investment decisions and in general the way we operate, think. And that gives you, well, gives me the space to drive real impact. So it's genuine pleasure to be working at this company. And what makes the job really interesting is that aluminium sustainability isn't just one topic. It's really 20, 25, 30 interconnected ones. And it's carbon, it's recycling, it's design for recyclability. policy, data quality, traceability, customer strategy, customer expectations, long-term system change. And I really spend a lot of time, I don't know if that's the right word, but translating between these different worlds. And increasingly, job is forward-looking and anticipating what the industry will need five years from now, 10 years from now, and whether it's new recycling streams or... new packaging formats or new circular business models. And we are kind of making sure we're building towards that today. So what we are doing today has real impact in the future. And that's also a very interesting part of the Hey friends, we are going to take a quick break to thank our sponsors. Please be sure to support them. Are you shipping with recycled corrugated? Think outside the box with 3M tape. 3M packaging tape can help you overcome your recycled corrugated challenges with confidence, making sure your boxes are sealed securely the first time, reducing downtime, and providing consistent performance. With 3M as your partner, you can maintain productivity, achieve cost savings, and turn packaging problems into ceiling success. When you use recycled corrugated shipping boxes, think 3M packaging. Sustainability starts long before a product hits the shelf. It starts with the spec. That's why brands choose Specright, the leader in intelligence specification data management and modern product lifecycle management. Specright turns siloed packaging and product data to connected, reliable intelligence so AI can identify waste, optimize materials, streamline supplier collaboration, and accelerate sustainable product design. If you're trying to reduce packaging complexity or meet evolving regulations, it's time for a spec first approach. Specright, the intelligent foundation for every product. Discover more at specright.com. In packaging, still, I know a guy, but what happens when you don't? Or when you need something beyond your network? Forest is built for that. A platform that connects packaging knowledge with AI intelligence, giving you access to verified suppliers, real capabilities, and actionable data in one place. Take action at speed. Execute with intelligence. That's Forest. job. Well, we hear lot about aluminum being circular and low carbon and all of these things. It's one of the most recycled materials in the world. A lot of people maybe not, aren't aware of that stat. It's, think maybe the most recycled packaging material above all else. And that's really an impressive thing to be thinking about and concentrating on because it's a key to the future of a more circular and sustainable I think. But what are some of the, what makes it so circular and what makes it so easy to recycle and what are some of the trade-offs that, you know, maybe a lot of people don't know about? Yeah, you're right about everything you said. And what makes aluminium unique, I think, is that it fits naturally into a circular economy model. It maintains its properties every time you recycle it and it maintains very high material value, which means that the system is economically motivated to keep it in circulation, right? And that makes it that much easier. And people often call it an energy bank. I love that phrase. because when you recycle aluminium, you save about 95 % of the energy compared to producing primary metal. And that's really a powerful advantage. And it's uh also super versatile material. You can shape it, can form it, make it lightweight, protective, hygienic, premium, anything you want. And that combination really makes aluminium work well, not only in today's packaging format, but also in any emerging circular refill systems, anything you can imagine. Aluminium can... can fit in. And now you mentioned these sort of trade-offs and it's true that primary aluminium production is energy intensive and that's what the industry is very clear about. But the important part there, I always say that, is the trajectory. The industry is moving happily toward renewable power smelting, toward new technologies like inert anodes and much lower carbon production routes. And the pace of that change is very... for the entire industry. And when you pair that technological progress with strong collection, strong recycling system, the impact is really immediate and aluminium really, I would say shines when the system around it is well designed and we're seeing more and more regions and industries really invest exactly those kinds of solutions. As I visit MRFs around the world, material recycling facilities for those listening, I am always amazed at how keen the owners and the workers are to talk about aluminum as kind of their bright and shining star of their system. And they show off the bundles of cans or the cubes of aluminum that they've collected and that they say these are the most valuable. parts of the system. This is what really works in recycling. Of course, there's corrugated and paper and other materials too, and even certain plastics that are recyclable and getting recycled, but the value of the aluminum is so great. And I've heard a stat even once that once you recycle a can, it could be back on the market refilled just in about eight weeks. And I don't know if that's accurate still or possible. It's an incredible thing to think about, talk about circular economy. That's really the goal in this packaging industry, I think. Absolutely, absolutely. value on the market, the quality of aluminium itself and the opportunity that through existing systems bring it back in as you say eight weeks, 60 days is amazing and really speaks a lot on its own about the material. It's, I think it's huge and it's a goal we can all strive for and with packaging, the packaging industry should be looking to you and learning from you and your team at Ball and for how do we do this? Well, but you mentioned decarbonizing. Can you tell us about that? I don't know that that's uh a term I'm familiar with and I'd love to learn more about it from you. Well, yeah, decarbonizing aluminium is, I would say, foundational for VOL, for meeting our climate targets. And our climate targets are, well, one of the reasons why we published a full climate transition plan, which outlines and details a clear pathway to hit our 2030 and 2050 goals in terms of decarbonization, climate, GDG, emissions reduction, everything. And what I love about that plan and about our strategy is that it's not just a high level of vision. It's a detailed roadmap with actions, with timelines, where it's data backed. It has customers and suppliers tied to it. So very realistic view of how we as a company and the industry should decarbonize. And there are a few major pillars in there. first, I think first, there would definitely be the transformation of primary metal. Primary aluminium today varies widely in carbon footprint, depending on the electricity mix used for smelting mainly. So we have committed to dramatically shifting our sourcing towards low carbon and near zero carbon metal. And whether that's hydropower based smelting or it's inert-annual technologies or some other next generation approaches, we can talk about that for hours probably. And this is a huge part of our scope three emissions reductions. And second, I would say recycle content for sure. Every ton of recycled aluminum, as we said, avoids around 95 % of the energy need for primary production. So it's one of the most powerful decarbonization levers we have as the industry, just packaging, but aluminum industry in general. And what's encouraging is that recycled content is getting much more traction across the industry. in the past two, three, five, 10 years. Brands wanted consumers increasingly look for it and start to understand it, and policies are creating the right incentives, slowly but surely. And we're working closely with partners to, I would say, continuously expand access to recycled material and integrate it more in our products. And as recycling systems globally improve, at a different pace, but they keep improving. And with better collection, clearer design rules, stronger infrastructure, the role of recycled content will only grow, obviously. And for us, it's a long-term pillar of the climate transition pathway and one where progress is really quickly visible and you can calculate it very quickly and you can have visible results. Third, after... Primary metal recycle content is definitely decarbonizing our own operations. We have made a lot of progress moving our plants to renewable electricity, to improving our energy efficiency internally, to light-weighting our products, super important carbon-wise and climate-wise. People often underestimate or overlook the footprint of the converting side of the industry, right? It shouldn't be underestimated, so this work. really, really matters. And finally, mean, there are many other, I would say, pillars and levers. We will go through them on other occasions, probably. I would mention also super important transparency in data. A real climate plan only works if you can actually measure your impact accurately. So because I love the phrase, you cannot manage what you don't measure. So really need to be able to. measure it and understand where the figures are coming from. So you know what to focus on. And we're investing heavily in inclusibility and reporting of emissions so we can make real business decisions based on real numbers and purchase some random averages that we can get our hands on. And what's important is that, again, I'll repeat what I said in the intro, think, is that this is not theoretical anymore. The levers exist. the technologies exist and the market is moving, right? And aluminium can be a near zero material, near zero metal. And our plan, our climate transition plan really lays out how to get there. And yeah, I would say internally, we are very proud of that climate transition plan. And we really think it should be and is a benchmark for the industry. It's pretty cool to see some of the brands like Coca-Cola's put recycle me right on the can. And I think that the first time I saw that I showed my family and they, this is so cool. Nice job. What a great message. And I think that's important for most consumers know that cans are recyclable, but I think it just reiterates that and helps people, encourages them to recycle. I know the recycle rates are really high already. But what is Ball Corporation doing with municipalities, governments, companies uh to help even improve those rates? Yeah, that's yet another topic we will be able to talk only about in separate podcast. I'll take you on that. Well, one of the things I really love again about aluminium is that when you build, as I said earlier, when you build a good system, the results are almost immediate, right? And you see it in countries with France, speaking of recycling, you see it in countries with strong DRS. deposit return schemes, the material gets collected, it gets sorted cleanly, and it's back in a new product in a matter of weeks, as you said, around eight weeks, that is the figure we're talking about. So for us, Closing the Loop is about partnering with everyone in the ecosystem and with policy makers, we advocate for smart, fair, well-designed systems that maximize collection without creating unnecessary complexity where possible, course. And with recyclers, we working on improving sorting technologies, ensuring aluminum ends up in the highest value stream. With brands, our customers, we collaborate on design choices that support recyclability, that incentivize recycling, recycle content, et cetera. And then there's the consumer side, because it's the consumers who actually consume the products, right? And the important part there is to help people understand that the can, the beverage can or an aerosol can or a bottle, they put in recycling bin is valuable and will come back. And aluminum really, I also like when I heard that, aluminum rewards good behavior. In a way, most materials don't. And every time you recycle aluminum, you're avoiding associated CO2 emissions and preserving a material that's here to stay, right? And that's a powerful story. And we're really trying to amplify it, as I said, through partnerships, through education. working with everybody who feels the same. I think you're exactly right. And a lot of focus for aluminum has been on aerosols and beverage packaging, but we're seeing a new trend that's very exciting in the world of packaging where we're using aluminum through a system called Meadow that I think is one of your partners where we're actually using aluminum cans to provide soap and lotion and shampoos and different things like that. I'd like to learn more about that. How did that come to be? uh Do you know a little bit of that history? Will consumers be surprised to see aluminum cans with soap and lotions and things like that? Yeah, well, you had the opportunity to see it firsthand in Paris. So yeah, I mean, it's a very interesting innovation and reaction of people I talk to when they see soap or shampoo in a beverage can is like, really? Can this really work? Because when you're in casual use, you're seeing a soda or something else. Even when people see water in beverage can, they're not super familiar with that, right? It's not that long soap or shampoo. So uh yeah, MEDO completely different thing, different concept and something we really believe in and it really has its place in the world, a concept like that. And what's exciting now in general is that sustainability isn't just about making existing forms better. It's also creating space for completely new systems like this one. And with MEDO, you see a blend of all millions durability with modern refill behaviors and expectations and precise. dispensing, sorry. And it's a very different way of thinking about packaging and innovations like these, I think really open doors. They let aluminum move into new categories where precision dosing or hygiene and circular user experience really matter, right? And as you said there, it comes on top of all other products. They complement, they don't replace traditional formats like aerosols, right? And we're expanding. maybe the tool kit's the right word for brands and giving them options that are both functional and future-proof in this case. And for me, the big picture here is that aluminum isn't locked into a one use case, right? It's flexible, it's adaptable and compatible with all kinds of different business models, circular models, whatever. And that makes it incredibly well positioned for this next wave of packaging innovation, whatever it may be. Now we're talking about the refill. Who knows what else will come in coming years. It's an impressive thought to think about how all these new materials can be used in aluminum. I think what's maybe something we should share about Meadow is it's very obvious it's not a beverage. It doesn't open the same. I don't think anybody should be concerned that they'll accidentally drink lotion or soap. They wouldn't be able to open it without their reusable system or some kind of a tool. So it's definitely a child friendly or child resistant packaging. It's great. I was really impressed with it. And I think one thing we should mention is the beautiful artwork on all the cans. There's so many printing options available with digital and flexo. And if you want to talk about all those options, that'd be great. Yeah, I mean, as you said, there zero risk of anybody drinking a shampoo or soap. The can is fully sealed. No, no issue with that. No risk of that. And yeah, personalization really matters in today's world. We're overwhelmed with different products and shelves and retails and all that. what you can do with a metal beverage can as well as the reusable container is amazing. Really, I mean, we don't have the opportunity. show that here, but I would invite anybody interested to just go online, Google MEDO, you'll see immense opportunities. It really looks nice. The system is great. It's very effective compared to some other systems that we're used to. So yeah, I'm really looking forward to seeing what's next for MEDO and I think it's great things. I agree. I love that the equipment to fill the cans is very similar to what's on the market right now. It's an easy change over to different materials. Watching cans get filled and sealed is one of the coolest things in packaging, in my opinion. I've had the pleasure of doing it a few times at breweries here in Oregon. It's so fun to watch how the foam, the beer and the the cans and the spinning. It's just, it's such a neat process. So yeah, lots of benefits there. product later, it helps a lot to enhance experience. I totally agree. Well, and I'm here to help you test anytime. So let's let's let's do that. So you work with a lot of brands to help them with their packaging. Can you you tell us like how Ball partners with people or how you work with large brands that you mentioned before? Is it on site? Is it virtual meetings or both? I mean, kind of collaboration with other brands and suppliers and stuff like that. Yeah, mean, sustainability really only works when everybody rose in the same direction, if I can say that. And with our suppliers and customers, we're really building long-term partnerships that accelerate the shift to either low-carbon aluminium to improve scrap flows and increase transparency, all the usual suspects there. And these aren't... transactional relationships. They're really shared decarbonization and overall sustainability roadmaps. And importantly, we're already putting this into practice. That's key, I think, to move from theory to practice. And a great example I would really like to mention is our partnership in Brazil with Sofie and Aeroflaks, two very ambitious brands, where we launched the world's first Aluminium Stewardship Initiative certified. aerosol can, aluminum aerosol can. And that's the first time an aerosol format anywhere globally carried the ASI logo. And that project wasn't just about using certified metal. It was a full collaboration across smalls commercial, sustainability, supply chain, R &D teams. And again, uh working with these two ambitious brands to bring that responsible aluminum. directly onto shelves, right? So put it into practice, put it in consumers' hands. And it shows how fast progress can happen when the whole chain is aligned. And I think another, yeah, definitely another strong example, and we talked about that in Paris, is our work with Alcoa and Unilever on the first ever use of Elis's carbon-free smelting technology in personal home care packaging. Elis is a, and I'll be very short here, Elis is breakthrough smelting that eliminates direct CO2 emissions and generates oxygen instead. And that pilot aerosol can, sounds good, right? Positive impact on the environment. That pilot aerosol can, which was made of 50 % elicis metal and 50 % post-consumer recycled content, is one of the lowest carbon packaging solutions of its kind. And it really shows, demonstrates what collaboration across the aluminum value chain can do, can unlock. And with brands, the mindset has shifted dramatically, I would say in the past decade or two. We work shoulder to shoulder to people who usually say ambition to actions. I would say not only action, but measurable outcomes, you know, redesign packaging formats and improve recyclability, integrate lifecycle data and... increasingly, as I said, really co-develop those decarbonization pathways. And I think that's the foundation of any sustainability collaboration right now. And the exciting thing is that brands are no longer asking things like, what could be possible in theory? What can you theoretically do for us? The main question is, how can we scale this now? How soon can we get this? And that's a great shift compared to some years ago. And that's where I think BOL really plays a strategic role, connecting that material science, supplier innovation and market realities with customer expectations and climate commitments, ours and theirs, to turn sustainability from a nice concept into some real progress and into a product on the shelf and in our homes. It's exciting to see. I was in the kitchen yesterday with my wife and she was refilling our olive oil from a can into the bottle. And I thought, that's awesome. That's how packaging should be. That's how it should work. We should refill and then immediately that goes into the recycle bin and it will get recycled. And that's... That's how this stuff should work in my opinion. So I want to commend you and your team for that effort. Yeah. Well, let's talk about maybe 10, 15 years from now. What does success look like if you've succeeded with these goals that you've got in sustainability? What happens there? Do you keep going? Is there more potential after that? Yeah, that's always a good question. And my colleagues at Paul and many of our customers and partners know how much I like talking about what comes next and what will be there in 10, 15 years. yeah, again, great topic, really. I would say if aluminum packaging delivers on its potential, the full packaging landscape and industry landscapes in, as I said, 10 to 15 years will look very different compared to where it is now. For consumers, packaging will feel lighter. we'll obviously in the process of height weighting, we'll hit the limit where you can't light weight anymore. You can't have a zero gram packaging. It's scary some way. And packaging will be smarter, will be more circular and whether it will be through refill systems, through improved recyclability, lower carbon material choice. Then of course, AI will for sure play a huge role. We have no idea. What role will that be? But it will definitely be around. I three years ago, we didn't know about AI. Now it's probably running our lives. So yeah, there'll definitely be a huge part of the future. And I think people won't think of packaging as waste. And that's what we are trying to preach right now. It's not waste. They'll see it as part of a loop, right? It's there. It's coming back. Yeah. And for packaging, for brands, I think, and for any company. working with packaging, filling it or creating it, uh it will be deeply data driven. think everything is going in that direction. They will know the carbon footprint of every component, the recycle content level, the recovery rate, and they'll use that data to differentiate products. That probably happened earlier than 15 years from now, but that's what the foundation should be. And aluminium will hopefully not be seen as just packaging material, but as a strategic asset that reduces climate risk there. And behind the scenes, well, behind the scenes, yeah, that's probably the right way to put it, the infrastructure will be mature. So high quality recycling, well-designed deposit schemes for different packaging formats, efficient recycling, supply chain powered by low or near zero carbon electricity. And aluminium is one of the few materials that can realistically operate in a near-closed loop. And by then, I think we'll see that loop running close to its full potential, I think. And most importantly, the aluminium industry itself will for sure have moved significantly closer to net zero. And between cleaner smelting technologies I mentioned earlier and high recycling rates and renewable energy transition that we are part of as we speak, Aluminium really has one of the clearest and easiest to understand decarbonization pathways of any packaging materials. So in 10 to 15 years, aluminum won't just be circular. It will be genuinely low carbon, which is exactly where the world needs any packaging to be. So that's my view. If we can talk again in 10 years, see how right that was. Let's plan that right now. We'll do it. Another episode in 10 years. Make sure, we'll call it episode two. Yeah. Well, congratulations on all the amazing things going on with aluminum packaging at Ball Corporation. I want to commend you and your team for the work that you're doing because I think it's incredibly innovative and exciting in sustainable packaging. How do people get in touch with you and your team if they want to follow up and learn more? Yeah, with me, I say I'm most active on LinkedIn, just posting about the latest and greatest from Ball and about what's going on in circularity, decarbonization, renewables, legislation, and every now and then a tasteful bit of self-promotion when I'm speaking on the stage somewhere, a very tasteful bit. I'm really always happy to connect with people who want to exchange ideas or talk or just chat or challenge the status quo a bit. anybody who wants to any of those things, feel free to hit me up. Thank you, Pradrik. Really appreciate you and your vision is incredible and can't wait to see what happens next with Ball Corporation. Thank you so much. Thanks for your time.