Earnings and Dividends Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2017	Mar. 31, 2016
Earnings Per Share
Net earnings attributable to Ball Corporation	$ 68	$ (127)
Basic weighted average common shares	175,024,000	141,793,000
Effect of dilutive securities (in shares)	3,943,000
Weighted average shares applicable to diluted earnings per share	178,967,000	141,793,000
Basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.39	$ (0.90)
Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.38	(0.90)
Weighted average number of shares that would have been applicable to diluted earnings per share if all potentially issuable securities were included	145,100
Number of outstanding options excluded from computation of diluted earnings per share	2,000,000
Dividends paid (in dollars per share)	$ 0.13	0.13
Dividends paid (in dollars per share)	$ 0.13	$ 0.13