Never Compromise
Product stewardship remains the focus of the Never Compromise pillar of our Twentyby30 program. Our approach aims to minimize the environmental and social impacts of our products throughout their entire lifecycle and includes three core components:
- Leveraging eco-design techniques and manufacturing innovation to minimize the footprint of our products and processes for the benefit of the environment and people. This includes examining a range of issues during the development process including how to reduce resource consumption and eliminate waste and emissions. The benefits of our design and innovation extend to our customers in the form of a lower product footprint, which in turn helps them meet their own sustainability goals.
- Complying with food contact and chemical safety standards to ensure products meet customer expectations without compromising the wellbeing of consumers, employees and the environment.
- Expanding our responsible and ethical sourcing program to address the social and environmental impacts of the materials and products we purchase. This includes closely examining suppliers, encouraging them to reduce their environmental and social footprint, seeking third-party verification and training our employees on ethical procurement.
Our 2030 Goals
Learn how each of these goals aligns with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Maintaining our reputation of responsible practices requires our efforts to work in harmony with those of our suppliers to create products trusted by millions of consumers every day. As such, we have established the following product stewardship goals for the Twentyby30 program:
Decrease the lifecycle footprint of our products and processes through eco-design and manufacturing innovation. Crown commits to devoting at least 50% of its Research & Development (R&D) technology developments toward minimizing the footprint of its products and manufacturing processes.
Continue to screen new food contact materials for the presence of Chemicals of Concern (COC) and take action where necessary.
By 2030, 100% of Crown's core raw materials and service suppliers, by spend, are assessed and comply with Crown's Responsible and Ethical Sourcing policy and requirements.
Taking Action
back to topOur Twentyby30 goals are designed to proactively protect our business from the risks associated with climate change and contribute to the international efforts to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius. We will achieve our goals by taking the following actions:
Decrease product lifecycle footprint
- Utilize Design for the Environment (DfE) and lifecycle thinking to help us decrease the footprint of our product and manufacturing processes footprint for the benefit of Crown, our customers and end consumers. To do this, we will focus on areas such as lightweighting, material and spoilage reduction, increased resource efficiencies, improved safety, greater recyclability or reusability and enhanced manufacturing process controls.
Food contact and chemical safety
- Unify existing standards and food contact requirements from around the world into One Crown Standard.
- Implement the One Crown Standard across the Company’s global Divisions.
- Screen all food contact materials for COC by 2025.
- Eliminate COC when an alternative solution is feasible and available.
- Submit materials for independent safety evaluations if the COC cannot be eliminated. If the evaluation identifies an insufficient safety margin, we will work with the material supplier to reduce exposure and mitigate potential risks.
Responsible and ethical sourcing
- Expand our responsible sourcing program globally.
- Incorporate social and environmental criteria into new contracts or when existing contracts are reviewed/renewed/reappraised.
- Deploy third-party assessments and audits for goods and services purchased that fall into risky categories.
- Seek proof of compliance with our Ethical and Responsible Sourcing Program requirements.
- Encourage our suppliers to utilize third-party organizations such as the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) and the Aluminum Stewardship Initiative (ASI) to help us verify the credibility of their risk screening.
- Train our employees on ethical procurement.
Our Sustainability Stories: Progress in Practice
back to topAs of 2025, we've made strong progress towards our Never Compromise goal, including:
- Decrease Product Lifecycle Footprint: Our goal was to devote at least 50% of our R&D technology developments and we exceeded that goal by 15%, devoting 65% total.
- Screening for and Eliminating Chemicals of Concern where possible: 100% goal achieved (in 2024).
- High Risk Suppliers to comply with our Responsible and Ethical Sourcing policies: 100% of goal achieved, exceeding the 75% 2025 target.
Our employees and operations around the world are already doing their part when it comes to climate action. Here are just a few examples of how they are making a difference:
Advancing Responsible Aluminum Sourcing
In 2025, 79% of Crown's total aluminum purchases came from ASI-certified suppliers, providing independent assurance across greenhouse gas management, resource efficiency, human rights, traceability, and ethical governance.
Assessing Suppliers
Crown conducts regular technical audits on all major metal suppliers, requiring high-risk suppliers to respond to a questionnaire on human rights, forced labor, environment, and health and safety—working with the remaining 1% toward full alignment or termination.
Sharing LCA Insights
Crown presented "Study on Lifecycle Assessment of Beverage Cans and Use of Recycled Aluminum" at the ACLCA conference in Atlanta, Georgia, contributing to critical industry conversations on circular materials and sustainability.
Crown Chemicals of Concern Evaluation Tool
Crown's global Regulatory team uses a proprietary classification tool—combining hazardous chemicals lists, authorized food contact substances, and expert knowledge—to screen materials and eliminate concerning substances where necessary.
UN Sustainability Development Goals
back to topIn 2015, the United Nations General Assembly annonunced 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to address global changes and set a blueprint for action to achieve the goals by 2030.
Our sustainable priorities are aligned with the SDGs so that our actions can contribute to a greater collective impact. Learn more about our alignment with each goal.
Additional Resources
back to topHave questions about our approach to climate action? Contact us at sustainability@crowncork.com.
Questions for Crown?