Ball Corporation and Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, LLC (KSE) today announced that Ball’s recyclable aluminum cup will soon be available to visitors at KSE’s Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. This is the first major professional sports arena to introduce the aluminum cups at full scale, debuting during the NBA's Denver Nuggets’ home opener against the Phoenix Suns on Friday, October 25.
Ball designed the lightweight aluminum cups in response to growing consumer preference for more sustainable products. The Pepsi Center is also home to the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche and the NLL’s Colorado Mammoth, expanding the aluminum cups offering to professional basketball, hockey, and lacrosse fans, as well as concertgoers.
Ball and KSE hope that the introduction of the aluminum cup will inspire good recycling habits. The collaboration between the two Denver-based companies is part of Ball’s recently launched pilot program, which will produce a limited supply of aluminum cups through 2020 to meet current customer demand from major sports and entertainment venues seeking to replace plastic cups. The aluminum cups, which will be used at all Pepsi Center events for draft soda and beer products, is a milestone for KSE as it seeks to reduce plastic use and promote sustainability in its venues.
Infinitely recyclable and economically valuable, aluminum is the most sustainable beverage packaging material, and like aluminum cans, aluminum cups can be easily recycled. In fact, 75% of the aluminum ever produced is still in use today. In addition to its sustainability and recycling strengths, the aluminum cup is lightweight, sturdy and cool to the touch. It also can be customized with logos and graphics.
Just last month, the University of Colorado Boulder formed a partnership with Ball Corporation to offer aluminum cups instead of plastic at football games this season. The new CU Boulder-branded aluminum cups are part of Ball’s pilot program.