The aluminium industry is calling for greater clarity ahead of the UK’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, but the uncertainty could also matter to food and drink manufacturers relying on imported aluminium packaging and components.

The UK’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is moving closer to implementation, with the aluminium industry warning that businesses still need greater clarity over how the new regime will work in practice.

The Aluminium Federation (ALFED) has highlighted concerns around the treatment of emissions data, verification and the practical requirements businesses will face under the new system.

While the debate is centred on aluminium producers and importers, the implications extend beyond the metal industry. For food and drink manufacturers, aluminium is widely used across packaging applications, from cans and trays to foil, closures and other components.

That makes the availability and quality of emissions information increasingly relevant to manufacturers seeking to understand the carbon footprint and potential cost implications of their supply chains.

Data becomes critical

One of the challenges highlighted by the aluminium sector is the need for greater policy clarity around emissions values and their verification.

For manufacturers further down the supply chain, this raises a broader question: how readily will suppliers be able to provide the information needed to demonstrate the emissions associated with imported materials?

This could become particularly important where manufacturers source packaging or packaging components internationally.

The more detailed the carbon-border requirements become, the greater the importance of reliable data moving through the supply chain. Manufacturers may therefore need to engage more closely with packaging suppliers to understand the origin of materials, their embedded emissions and how those figures have been calculated.

Potential impact on packaging supply chains

Changes in the economics and administration of imported aluminium could ultimately influence purchasing decisions and supplier relationships elsewhere in the value chain.

Manufacturers may need to consider whether suppliers can provide sufficiently robust emissions data, whether verification requirements could introduce additional administrative complexity, and whether sourcing decisions need to take greater account of the carbon intensity of packaging materials.

The issue also reinforces the growing importance of recycled materials.

Where aluminium packaging can incorporate recycled content, manufacturers may increasingly look at the carbon implications alongside traditional considerations such as cost, performance, availability and recyclability.

Preparing for implementation

The immediate message from the aluminium sector is that businesses need greater certainty about how the UK CBAM framework will operate.

For food and drink manufacturers, however, the development is also a reminder that carbon-related regulation increasingly reaches beyond the factory gate.

Packaging procurement, supplier data and Scope 3 emissions are already becoming more closely connected. As carbon-border mechanisms develop, manufacturers may need to understand not only what materials they are buying, but also the emissions information that sits behind them.

The practical question for manufacturers is therefore not simply whether they will be directly liable under CBAM.

It is whether their suppliers, packaging choices and international supply chains could be affected by the new carbon-border regime — and whether they have the data needed to understand that exposure.

With implementation approaching, greater clarity from policymakers and suppliers alike will be important if manufacturers are to assess the potential operational and commercial implications.