Packaging supplier Ball Corporation and Henkel Beauty Care have continued their lightweighting journey with the latest iteration of ReAl, Ball’s revolutionary technology using recycled aluminium to create a metal alloy that exhibits increased strength and allows weight reduction of the container without affecting package integrity.
The original ReAl, which launched in 2014 to replace the standard aluminium aerosol can, included 25% recycled material to yield an 11% lighter package. The newest iteration, which launched earlier this year, contains comparable recycled material and the package is now 15% lighter than the standard aluminum aerosol can. Ball is working to achieve even further lightweighting in the future.
For a 150ml and 200ml sized can, Henkel’s Fa is now the lightest commercially available can on the market. By utilising the lighter weight ReAl technology, Ball estimates a product carbon footprint reduction of 12%, which saves the equivalent greenhouse gases emitted by a vehicle driving around the earth more than a thousand times (based on estimated annual volumes supplied). Additionally, despite the increased alloy strength, Ball successfully developed a container with a deep shape to produce a can with a distinctive shelf presence.