Novelis to supply aluminum beverage can sheet to Coca-Cola

Aluminum manufacturer and recycler Novelis Inc. has announced the signing of a new long-term contract with Coca-Cola Bottlers’ Sales & Services Co. (CCBSS), which is the contracting agent for The Coca-Cola Co.’s authorized North American bottlers.

Under the agreement, Atlanta-based Novelis will supply Coca-Cola’s authorized North American bottlers with aluminum can sheet for The Coca-Cola Co.’s family of iconic brands. This includes supply from Novelis’ plant in Bay Minette, Alabama, which currently is under construction and expected to begin commissioning in 2025.

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Under the agreement, Atlanta-based Coca-Cola North American Bottlers, through the CCBSS and Novelis agreement, have committed to purchasing a confidential volume of aluminum can sheet over a multiyear period.

“This new long-term contract builds on a decades-long relationship between Novelis and the Coca-Cola system, and further strengthens Novelis’ position as the leading provider of aluminum for beverage cans,” Novelis President and CEO Steve Fisher says. “This contract validates our investment in expanding rolling and recycling capacity in North America and solidifies a strong future for sustainable aluminum as the beverage packaging material of choice.”

According to Novelis, the contract includes an agreement for closed-loop recycling, highlighting both companies’ commitments to sustainability. Through closed-loop recycling programs, Novelis directly takes back the manufacturing scrap generated during the can making process, recycles it and converts it into new can sheet, which is then made into new beverage cans. In addition to this continuous loop, Novelis says it recycles more than 80 billion used beverage cans per year into new aluminum for beverage packaging. The company claims these efforts result in lower-carbon products, as recycling aluminum is approximately 95 percent less energy intensive than making primary aluminum, resulting in 95 percent less carbon emissions.

Novelis says it expects demand for aluminum beverage can sheet to grow at a 3 percent compounded annual growth rate from 2022 to 2031, adding that demand growth is driven by consumer preference for more sustainable products and size variety, as well as more beverage types being packed in cans, including water, energy drinks, soda, beer, wine, hard seltzers and ready-to-drink cocktails.

“The evolving role on behalf of The Coca-Cola Company and our bottlers is to build a resilient domestic supply chain, thus enabling sustainable long-term growth,” Coca-Cola Chief Procurement Officer Dan Coe says. “We recognize Novelis as a leader in sustainability, committed to supporting our 2030 World Without Waste Targets.”

Novelis says the majority of the Bay Minette plant’s capacity for beverage can sheet is already contracted, and the facility will be the first fully integrated aluminum manufacturing and recycling plant built in the U.S. in nearly 40 years. The company says it expects the plant, which will be powered by renewable energy, use recycled water and operate as a zero-waste facility, to create up to 1,000 new jobs and boast an initial capacity of 600,000 tons of finished goods for the North American can and automotive markets.

Additionally, Novelis is working toward a goal of achieving net carbon neutrality at Bay Minette.