Materiality
Setting the Stage for Reporting
In accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) guidelines, we aim to produce a formal Sustainability Materiality Assessment every two years, as the exercise helps establish a set of sustainability-related focus areas that are of interest to our stakeholders and that intersect with our business.
Our most recent assessment was completed in March 2022 and reflects core topics based on discussions with over 100 internal and external stakeholders.
Our process of conducting a Sustainability Materiality Assessment includes the following stages:
1. Identification
2. Evaluation
3. Prioritization
1. Identification
For each assessment, we update and fine-tune our process to reflect any notable changes since our last report, including:
- Significant changes in our business, such as acquisitions and divestitures
- Alignment with GRI Standards, reporting via the latest reporting guidance offered
- Other changes related to our business, customers, public policy, the context in which we do business and the evolving expectations of key stakeholders
Each assessment also factors in thorough interviews with customers, industry associations, employees and Company executives from around the world, in addition to reviewing the sustainability priorities of our customers and peer companies and
researching key topics affecting the industry. This ensures we stay informed about the changes and evolutions of industry and of modern, pertinent sustainability topics.
2. Evaluation
We speak directly with identified key stakeholders via an independent third party, assessing reports outlining the environmental, social and governance (ESG) stakeholders for the industry and analyzing our business plans, strategies and key risk assessments. Industry peers and enterprise customers are also benchmarked as part of this analysis.
3. Prioritization
In our latest assessment, we narrowed down our core sustainability topics to “material” issues seen as most critical by our stakeholders. These focuses are seen as the most critical to manage continuously and provided guidance for the framework of our Twentyby30™ program:
- Energy & Carbon Footprint
- Water Management & Scarcity
- Waste Reduction & Management
- Employee Health, Safety & Wellness
- Product Quality & Safety
- Business Ethics
Materiality Assessment
As climate risk is ever-evolving, materiality assessments will continue to serve as a guide for the Company in determining issues that are most relevant to all stakeholders. This also helps to assess our progress toward our targets and recognize opportunities in how the Twentyby30™ program aligns with the goals of our competitors and customers.
“Each assessment...ensures we stay informed about the changes and evolutions of the industry and of modern, pertinent sustainability topics”
1. Top Priority Topics
Business Practices
- Business ethics & good governance
- Compliance with ESG rules, regulations standards
- Data & information security risk management
Products
- Product quality, safety (including food safety) & stewardship
- Cost reduction, including operational excellence, efficiency & lightweighting
Customers
- Customer satisfaction
- Compliance with environmental(chemical, waste,recycling) legislation applicable customers & our industry
- Support for the sustainability goals of our customers
- Alignment with customers on sustainability/ customer partnerships & dialogue
Employees
- Employee health, safety & well-being
- Inclusive working climate
- Employee social relations
- Development needs
- Career growth
- Professional & social engagement
- Diversity & Inclusion
Circularity & Waste
- Circular Product Lifecycle Management e.g., % raw materials from
a) recycled content,
b) renewable resources,
c) renewable & recycled content; revenue from products that are reusable, recyclable and/or compostable; reducing lifecycle impact - Business model, product & process innovation
- Improvement in the recycling rate & recycled content of metal packaging
- Supplier, customer & consumer education on the recyclability of metal packaging
- Waste reduction
Energy & Carbon Footprint
- Carbon/greenhouse gas emissions (GHG)
- Total energy consumption
- Energy & carbon intensity
- Renewable energy
2. High Priority Topics
Sourcing
- Supplier Code of Conduct adherence
- Responsible supply chain management (e.g., resource traceability, identify & manage materials & chemicals, optimized logistics, percent of certified aluminum purchased)
- Responsible sourcing assessment
Resources
- Resource scarcity (managing & helping to preserve key inputs that may be under threat by environmental conditions, political instability, economic instability or other)
- Locally sourced inputs
Water & Air
- Water management & risks
- Air emissions (VOCs, particulate matter (PM), NOx, etc.) reduction
3. Priority Topics
Communities
- Community support to enhance well-being
- Investment & engagement with local communities & non-profits
- Community engagement by employees