Cary Causey, president of Ball Packaging EMEA, with plant manager Jason Bridger. Image courtesy of Ball Corporation

Ball’s new beverage can plant in the UK’s East Midlands has been nominated in three categories for local business awards. 

The plant, built on a greenfield site at Segro Park Kettering Gateway, complements US-based Ball’s two others in the UK, adjacent to Coca-Cola filling operations at Wakefield in Yorkshire and Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire.

The Kettering plant opened in January 2023 and the company received award nominations in each of the categories it had entered in the NNBN (NN Business Network) Awards. NN being the local postcode. Plant manager Jason Bridger was nominated for businessperson of the year, Ball Beverage Packaging as Business of the Year, and the company is also a finalist for the Green Award.

Paulina Panuś, HR manager at the plant, commented: “The nominations received speak volumes about the important role that Ball plays in Kettering and the wider Northamptonshire area. They underscore our unwavering commitment to fostering innovation, championing diversity and inclusion, and leading the charge in sustainable practices.”

She commended Bridger as a “shining example” of a leader, adding: “His dedication to building this plant and recruiting the right people has led to the successes in the plant’s production, operating start-up, recruitment, diversity and inclusion, training, and community relations while remaining composed and inspiring the plant teams and stakeholders within Ball.”

The finalists were announced in August, after a judging period in July. The winners will be revealed at a ceremony in October.

Ball announced plans for the new plant in 2021, with construction starting in March 2022, followed by staff recruitment and training. The new canmaking lines will accelerate volume growth in the region during the second half of 2023, the canmaker said in its second quarter results. 500ml cans of Monster energy drinks with the plant’s 2K3 prefix code have been seen in supermarkets.

Panuś said the plant, which employs 170 staff trained in Ball’s other UK plants, is the largest aluminium beverage packaging plant in the UK and covers 56,000sqm for one line with capacity to make a more than billion cans a year, and space to expand for a second line.

Ball, which has had its climate change plans approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative, has constructed the plant according to BREEAM’s ‘Excellent’ Sustainability and Environmental Standards. Other features include a rainwater harvesting system and innovative technology to mitigate machinery exhaust emissions.

These, says Ball, make the Kettering plant the most advanced facility of its type, using 20% less energy and 70% less water than traditional D&I canmaking processes.

Commenting at the ceremony last year, Carey Causey, president of Ball Beverage Packaging EMEA, said: “As environmental awareness increases, consumers are insisting on more sustainable drinks packaging. This new facility, in one of the UK’s best-known manufacturing locations, will help us to support our customers’ growth, creating fully recyclable cans which can play a role in a truly circular economy and support the local community.”

The Kettering plant, which was started up around the same time as another at Pilzen in Czech Republic, brings Ball’s total number of sites in the EMEA region to 26.

Crown is also due to complete the construction of a new beverage can plant in the UK at nearby Peterborough in Cambridgeshire by the end of October.

The UK has the largest production base for beverage cans in Europe, making around 11 billion a year. Along with Ball’s three plants, Crown has two more, at Braunstone in Leicestershire and Botcherby near Carlisle; Ardagh Metal Packaging has two, at Rugby and Wrexham, along with an end plant at Deeside, while Canpack has one at Scunthorpe.