COP30: Unilever, Ball and Alcoa unveil “first” carbon-free aluminum aerosol can

Ball Corporation, Unilever, and Alcoa Corporation have announced the first use of Elysis carbon-free smelting technology to produce an aerosol can. The product has applications across the personal care industry, including deodorants and cleaning products.

The announcement was made ahead of the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), which is currently taking place in Belém, Brazil. 

According to the companies, the technology eliminates direct GHGs from smelting by producing oxygen instead of CO2.

The aerosol can is made from 50% Elysis aluminum and 50% post-consumer recycled content. It is said to be “one of the lowest-carbon packaging solutions of its kind.”

Renato Bacchi, executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Alcoa, says: “Through this collaboration with Ball and Unilever, we’re helping bring low-carbon aluminum into everyday products and demonstrating how innovation at the material level can deliver tangible sustainability benefits.” 

“Critical” supply chain work

Elysis is a technology partnership formed by Alcoa and Rio Tinto, with support from Apple and the governments of Canada and Québec. It aims to research low-carbon aluminum production. 

Ramon Arratia, chief sustainability officer and vice president of Public Affairs at Ball Corporation, says: “This project combines higher recycled content and low-carbon primary aluminum — both key to decarbonize aluminum packaging and the aluminum sector at large. This is both a packaging innovation and a critical supply chain collaboration at work.”

The companies highlight that the debut of Elysis technology marks a “pivotal” moment in aluminum packaging for the personal care sector, which has faced uncertainty recently due to US tariffs. 

In August, US President Donald Trump imposed 50% tariffs on 407 aluminum and steel product categories, impacting the personal care industry. 

In aluminum packaging developments, Cosmogen launched an on-the-go brush set and a watertight, reloadable ReUse stick for makeup and skin care applications, and Quadpack unveiled an eye cream tube available with an aluminum or ethylene-vinyl alcohol barrier.