Alcoa, Ball and Unilever Partner

Alcoa Corporation, Ball Corporation, and Unilever PLC have announced the first-ever use of ELYSIS® carbon-free aluminum smelting technology in consumer personal and home care packaging—a milestone revealed ahead of the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), where global leaders will convene to advance cross-sector climate solutions.

This groundbreaking collaboration marks the first application of ELYSIS technology—an innovative smelting process that eliminates direct greenhouse gas emissions by producing oxygen instead of CO₂—in the personal and home care segment. The resulting aerosol can combines 50% ELYSIS primary aluminum with 50% post-consumer recycled content, creating one of the lowest-carbon packaging solutions available in the market today.

The initiative serves as a model for value chain collaboration to accelerate low-carbon innovation, aligning with global decarbonization goals and rising consumer demand for sustainable products. Renato Bacchi, Alcoa’s Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, emphasized the tangible impact: “By partnering with Ball and Unilever, we’re bringing low-carbon aluminum into everyday products, demonstrating how material-level innovation delivers real sustainability benefits. We’re proud to collaborate across the aluminum value chain to reduce carbon footprints and make a difference in daily life.”

Ramon Arratia, Ball Corporation’s Chief Sustainability Officer & Vice President of Public Affairs, noted the dual significance of the project: “This combines higher recycled content and low-carbon primary aluminum—both critical to decarbonizing aluminum packaging and the sector overall. It’s packaging innovation paired with essential supply chain collaboration.”

The debut of ELYSIS-enabled aluminum in personal and home care packaging signals a pivotal moment for the aluminum and consumer goods industries. Together, Alcoa, Ball, and Unilever are proving that cross-industry collaboration can unlock new applications for breakthrough technologies in established markets, driving meaningful greenhouse gas emissions reductions and advancing the global low-carbon transition.