Ball Corporation is planning to significantly increase its manufacturing capacity, with new cutting-edge facilities in the UK and Russia. With an increasing consumer call for more sustainable purchasing options and a growing number of new brands and beverage categories choosing cans, demand for aluminium packaging is rapidly expanding around the world. Each facility would produce, from 2023, billions of cans a year across a range of formats and sizes, and provide up to 200 skilled jobs in a fast-growing but stable sector. In the UK, Ball has identified a site at the SEGRO Park Kettering Gateway, an established industrial development in Northamptonshire. Ball has submitted its formal application to North Northamptonshire Council and anticipates breaking ground during 2021, following a period of public consultation. The planned Kettering plant will represent Ball's third beverage can manufacturing facility in the UK, adding capacity to its established plants in Milton Keynes and Wakefield. The plant will supply cans for domestic customers in a growing range of categories, which now includes hard seltzers, wines, ready to drink cocktails, together with pure and enhanced water brands. To serve the fast growing Russian market, especially in the beer and energy drinks categories, Ball is planning to build a plant in Ulyanovsk in Western Russia.