At Crown, we look at sustainability through a number of different lenses, including the well-being of our global employees, the impact of our processes and products and the role we play in the communities in which we operate. These key areas align with the most important “material” topics identified with our internal and external stakeholders.
Our success as a company and continued sustainability progress is a direct result of our high-performing employees that come to work every day. That is why safeguarding our workplaces, and all of the people within them, is a top priority for Crown. Our commitment has resulted in the creation of a Total Safety Culture that permeates across our business and into the attitudes and values of every employee, both on the job and outside of work.
Crown has been innovating every day since our founder, William Painter, invented the bottle cap (originally called a “crown
cork”) in 1892. That spirit is what continues to fuel our commitment to helping customers build their
brands regionally and globally with packaging innovations that respond to the evolving needs and
values of consumers and enhances how they use and interact with products.
Sustainability is also a priority for all of the innovations we bring to market. As a global leader
in our industry, we have led the way in reducing the amount of metal used in consumer metal packaging.
We commercialize hundreds of innovations each year that represent incremental improvements in our
technologies by saving metal and/or other materials (e.g. coatings and compounds), ensuring our products
are more sustainable tomorrow than they are today. We have also introduced new manufacturing practices
that improve productivity, reduce spoilage, improve safety and reduce energy use. These efforts all
contribute to making our products more sustainable and, in turn, helping our customers meet their
own sustainability targets.
In addition to investing in the growth and safety of our employees and their families, we firmly believe in being a good
corporate citizen and giving back to the communities where we work and live. This commitment manifests
itself in a variety of ways, large and small, and includes environmental protection, education, science,
health and wellness and other important social issues.
While three of our plants were recognized as part of the 2016 Chairman’s Sustainability Awards for
their social sustainability efforts, many other facilities in our global network make meaningful
contributions to their local communities. Here are just a few examples of the good work they have
been doing through local initiatives during this reporting period:
On a global scale, Crown is an ardent supporter of education in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)
fields.
For example, Crown is a STEM 150 member of the Franklin Institute, a leading science and technology
museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with an extensive STEM education program. Its efforts include
training science teachers, running the PACTS (Partnerships for Achieving Careers in Technology and
Science) program for 150 students in grades 6-12 each year through after school and weekend activities,
and a STEM Scholars program for high school students. In addition, the Institute’s programs and world-renowned
museum directly reach more than one million people each year, including nearly 200,000 underserved
schoolchildren.