UK beverage plastic bottles
Sugar sweetened drinks and bottled water represent just 5% of all plastic used in the UK each year (and just 12% of all food packaging plastic). (Zenith International, 2010)
Lightweighting
Bottled water companies have made considerable progress in reducing the amount of plastic used to package their products over the last few years. Lightweighting primary packaging, removing excessive secondary packaging and using reusable tertiary packaging reduces both the original raw materials used and the effects of those materials on disposal of the items.
PET
PET is an acronym for polyethylene terephthalate, which is a long-chain polymer belonging to the generic family of polyesters. 90% of water bottles are now PET and 100% are recyclable.
Recycled PET (RPET)
Alongside lightweighting, bottled water companies are leading the way with the use of recycled PET within primary packaging. This both saves on the use of virgin oil and reduces the carbon footprint of the bottle, as less carbon is emitted in the collection and reprocessing of plastic bottles compared to that expended in the processing of crude oil into PET.
Recycling
More recently, the use of recycled PET (RPET) back into plastic bottles has become technically feasible while the supply of food grade recycled plastic has improved.
The rate of plastics recycling is increasing every year. Consumers have helped by making significant strides in recycling used bottles: in 2008 plastic bottle recycling rose by 19% to 216,000 tonnes (the equivalent of 5.4 billion bottles). (Recoup, 2009)
Bottled water firms are committed to minimising their carbon footprint and packaging waste through continued lightweighting and use of recycled PET.
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