How a strong partnership leads to a win-win and breakthrough solution

ArcelorMittal has partnered with longstanding customer Massilly to develop an innovative low-thickness aerosol top from high strength steel, that delivers a 10% reduction in material steel content per component, and so a substantial reduction in the raw material’s embedded carbon footprint – effectively an “emissions shrinker.” 

From left to right: Richard Lézé, ArcelorMittal Packaging CMO, Nicolas Aulanier, General Manager Massilly Ibérica Grumetal and Operations Manager Massilly Aerosol Cans division, Valérie Bindschedler, Massilly’s Marketing Director and Giulia Marcaccio, ArcelorMittal Packaging Marketing

ArcelorMittal has a long-standing partnership with French-based Massilly Holding S.A.S., a global player in metal packaging for the consumer and industrial markets. Massilly is committed to the advantages of metal packaging products for their qualities of durability, safety and recyclability. It styles itself as “Massilly, the Metal Lover since 1911.”  The company manufactures metal closures, cans, aerosol cans, industrial packaging, and decorated and personalised tin boxes, operating in 15 countries around the world.The partnership with ArcelorMittal has grown closer over the past 10 years through a renewed collaborative focus on aerosol applications.

Massilly manufactures metal closures, cans, aerosol cans, industrial packaging, and decorated and personalised tin boxes, operating in 15 countries around the world.

This particular project was founded on both companies’ mutual objective of pioneering downgauged steel in aerosol applications, to reduce materials, costs and carbon emissions. Historically, most downgauging initiatives have focused on food packaging, but the aerosol market extends across many domestic and industrial uses.

The new top has won the 2026 ADF Innovation Award certificate which was handed over during Paris Packaging Week, on 6 February 2026, at the Paris Expo, Porte de Versaille.

“Reducing the thickness of our metal packaging is an invisible innovation that represents a major technical challenge: achieving significant resource savings while maintaining the full structural integrity and protective properties of our products. We thank the ArcelorMittal Global R&D team for their collaboration and commitment to helping us make this breakthrough possible,” says Valerie Bindschedler, Massilly’s Marketing Director.

“We have introduced a new high strength steel (HSS) range - covering 600, 620 and 650 MPa yield stress,” commented Richard Lézé, Chief Marketing Officer, Packaging Europe, ArcelorMittal. “This has enabled us to consider some extreme downgauging product developments. It matched perfectly with Massilly’s plans, and enabled us to co-develop a new high-strength, low-weight aerosol top. A win-win for both of us. And we are delighted to have won the ADF Innovation Award certificate – it’s a great tribute to both of our teams and their collaboration! The aim was to achieve maximal lightweighting without sacrificing safety performance, whilst maintaining the required 15 bar pressure resistance. These steel characteristics needed to guarantee industrial stability and zero production issues during the high-speed forming and seaming process."

The result has been moving with Massilly’s product development team from a standard 0.29 mm steel thickness to a new best-in-class benchmark of 0.26 millimetres for a D48 aerosol top, a 10% material reduction per component. It is fully in line with Massilly’s demanding specifications, regulatory requirements and the performance needs of fillers, the end customers in home products, cosmetics and industrial applications.

ArcelorMittal Global R&D, working with the Packaging team, undertook Finite Element Analysis (FEA ) to fully redesign the aerosol dome profile with Massilly, to concentrate strength exactly where it is needed for pressure resistance. ArcelorMittal has unmatched R&D expertise and resources to collaborate with its customers to deliver innovative, sustainable solutions.

For both companies this innovation is a powerful contribution to climate mitigation and circularity, delivering immediate CO₂ savings through the reduction in steel mass, and allowing for full recyclability at the product’s end of use. For Massilly, this is critical since its raw material purchases account for nearly 50% of its total GHG the emissions. By targeting material reduction, the project directly tackles the main source of the company’s Scope 3 emissions. Similarly for ArcelorMittal, the project contributes to its circular initiatives toreduce material inputs, and design more sustainable products with its customers, keeping the infinite recyclability advantage of steel.