An Interview With...
pillars: emissions, ecology and social (its people and communities). Noting that AMP has made “good progress” in all three, Graham explains that it’s committed to transitioning to 100% renewable electricity by 2030, while it has made substantial headway in reducing water usage and 80% of its production facilities have achieved zero waste to landfill status ahead of its 2025 target to be 100% across its global facilities. On the social pillar front, he
was going more into cans. There was the sustainability piece and the innovation piece. In Brazil, it hinged on GDP growth driving increased liquid consumption and the switch from two-way glass bottles to single- use recyclable packaging.” Covid lockdowns may have played
some part in this growth phase. Graham notes: “We got a bump up from consumption in some markets – e.g. the UK when we went into Covid. Looking more broadly it was hard to disaggregate how much of the demand was because of at-home consumption and how much it was the continuation of the previous trends, particularly for hard seltzers because they were growing between 200%-300% from 2016-19 and they carried on growing.” The industry is in a different place
now, but before we turn our attention to the current slowdown and what Graham thinks the future holds, we discuss AMP in more detail.
A strong player in the metal beverage packaging industry
AMP is the second-largest beverage can maker in Europe and the third largest in the Americas, making it No 3 globally. For Graham, the foundation of this success lies in “inheriting some very good teams
and assets from the Ball / Rexam merger in 2016. We were essentially Rexam US and Ball Europe / Brazil, plus or minus a few plants. We acquired some very good facilities including two Rexam plants in Europe”. There is something to be said about keeping AMP simple and agile. Pointing out that it doesn’t have lots of layers, Graham says: “We run very simply, we keep it lean. This is helping us in all our markets together with strong local teams, for example in Brazil where we’ve a good balance of regional and global customer relationships.” AMP has another unique position:
the majority ownership of Ardagh Group, the holding company of AMP and its sister company Ardagh Glass Packaging. “Although AMP is a separate entity, this ownership structure means we can talk to the customers jointly across glass and metal. I think this makes us more relevant to customers and enhances our seat at the table.”
Sustainability and responsible sourcing
In today’s world, it’s essential for businesses – big or small – to demonstrate that they’re good corporate citizens. And AMP takes sustainability seriously. Launched in 2020, its strategy rests on three
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metalpackager.com We run
very simply, we keep it lean. This is helping
us in all our markets together
with strong local teams
singles out the company’s Ardagh for Education programme. “We’ve done a very extensive rollout in the US since 2021, and we’re easily in 20 to 30 communities.” Last year, AMP launched a similar programme in Germany, and more recently, in Brazil. “We’re investing in local communities where we operate on science and technology education. We think it’s very impactful and inclusive for young people: ensuring boys and girls get involved in STEM education. We’re very proud of it.” Another hot topic in creating a
low-carbon, circular economy is responsible sourcing and increasing the amount of aluminium available for recycling across the supply chain. “We’ve increased the strength and depth of our procurement organisation in the last few years. This has become much more important in terms of where we source our aluminium. It’ll be very important for our sustainability commitments as it is for the whole industry,” Graham adds.
Getting to net zero by 2050?
The climate emergency has become a burning issue much sooner than we expected. Our daily weather patterns have become more extreme and frequent. We’re yet to see what will be achieved for carbon neutrality across the board by 2050, a deadline set by the UN climate deal at the 2015 Paris talks dedicated to climate emergency. Asked to comment on the metal
packaging industry specifically, Graham says: “Aluminium is the biggest source of emissions in our industry. It’s a lot about upstream emissions for the aluminium sector. Much depends on the decarbonisation of electricity grids in countries where primary aluminium
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