Business Segment Information (Details) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($) segment	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Business Segment Information
Number of reportable segments | segment			5
Segment Reporting Information, Revenue for Reportable Segment [Abstract]
Net sales	$ 2,815	$ 2,097	$ 6,600	$ 6,192
Reconciling items
Business consolidation and other activities	(79)	(152)	(319)	(138)
Amortization of acquired Rexam intangibles	(33)	(10)	(33)	(29)
Cost of sales associated with Rexam inventory step-up	(83)		(83)
Earnings before interest and taxes	116	76	283	476
Interest expense	(80)	(38)	(159)	(107)
Debt refinancing and other costs	(2)	(21)	(108)	(86)
Total interest expense	(82)	(59)	(267)	(193)
Earnings before taxes	34	17	16	283
Tax (provision) benefit	(38)	31	191	(48)
Equity in results of affiliates, net of tax	7	2	6	3
Net earnings	3	50	213	238
Less net earnings attributable to noncontrolling interests	(3)	(5)	(3)	(12)
Net earnings attributable to Ball Corporation		45	210	226
Undistributed corporate expenses	43	17	78	69
Segment Assets
Assets	17,060		17,060		$ 9,697
Other
Segment Reporting Information, Revenue for Reportable Segment [Abstract]
Net sales	201	119	360	349
Reconciling items
Other	(21)	(8)	(67)	(45)
Business consolidation and other activities	(53)	(130)	(252)	(108)
Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information, Revenue for Reportable Segment [Abstract]
Net sales	2,614	1,978	6,240	5,843
Reconciling items
Earnings before interest and taxes	332	236	785	659
Operating Segments | Beverage packaging, North And Central America
Segment Reporting Information, Revenue for Reportable Segment [Abstract]
Net sales	1,076	818	2,653	2,466
Reconciling items
Business consolidation and other activities	(6)	(20)	(12)	(21)
Earnings before interest and taxes	145	109	356	316
Operating Segments | Beverage packaging, South America
Segment Reporting Information, Revenue for Reportable Segment [Abstract]
Net sales	318	134	577	407
Reconciling items
Business consolidation and other activities	(6)		(15)
Earnings before interest and taxes	60	14	100	43
Operating Segments | Beverage packaging, Europe
Segment Reporting Information, Revenue for Reportable Segment [Abstract]
Net sales	687	450	1,522	1,310
Reconciling items
Business consolidation and other activities	(10)	(2)	(19)	(9)
Earnings before interest and taxes	72	61	184	150
Operating Segments | Food and aerosol packaging
Segment Reporting Information, Revenue for Reportable Segment [Abstract]
Net sales	329	372	911	1,012
Reconciling items
Business consolidation and other activities	(4)		(21)	(1)
Earnings before interest and taxes	31	31	84	89
Operating Segments | Aerospace
Segment Reporting Information, Revenue for Reportable Segment [Abstract]
Net sales	204	204	577	648
Reconciling items
Business consolidation and other activities				1
Earnings before interest and taxes	$ 24	$ 21	$ 61	$ 61