Bottle and Packaging

The bottle hermetically seals its contents to protect them from outside contamination, and it constitutes the last link in our quality chain. It guarantees that our products retain their health and taste qualities from the time they leave the source until they reach the consumer. And yet they represent nearly half the environmental impact of our business (relative to the green house gas emitted through the whole value chain).

It’s about energy
Like many beverages that are sold commercially, our bottles are primarily made of PET plastic. PET plastic is a 100% recyclable material.

When our bottles are in fact recycled, they enjoy a second life as insulation, carpeting, fabrics, pipes and more. Waste material becomes a precious resource. By recycling bottles, we save significant amounts of primary energy. Did you know that 25 recycled PET bottles are needed to make a sweater, and recycling 3,700 PET bottles saves one barrel of petrol? This is why increasing recycling is so crucial.

20% lighter in 5 years
Reducing the weight of our bottles constitutes another priority area to optimise our business. In recent years, Nestlé Waters has stepped up its efforts on that front: 20% less plastic used per litre produced between 2004 and 2008. For 2009, we are aiming for an additional 3% decrease. The continued weight reduction of our bottles is the result of research work done by our teams at the Product Technology Centre Water. (Nestlé Waters R&D center )

In 2007, we released the lightest 0.5 l plastic bottle, the Eco-Shape bottle, on the U.S. market. The Eco-Shape half-litre bottle at that time weighed 12.4 grams and used 30% less plastic than the average half-litre plastic beverage container (1). In addition to less plastic, the bottle’s label is 35% smaller on average than the previous label. And we are already working on a new generation of Eco-Shape bottle that will weigh less than 10 grams! These efforts are led simultaneously by all our markets. As an example, Nestlé Waters UK reduced the amount of PET used per litre by 24% between 2005 and 2007.

At Nestlé Waters, we haven’t forgotten about secondary packaging. The new Valvert packaging uses 100% recycled cardboard and paper labels. The introduction of 25% material made from recycled PET to produce our Valvert bottle , mean 1,400 tons fewer CO2 emissions, 4,200 fewer barrels of petrol used and 4,500 trees saved every year!

Towards the next generation bottle
Last but not least, we are exploring all new packaging solutions that could reduce our environmental impacts even more in the future. Bio-plastics are compostable and biodegradable. They are made out of renewable resources, such as corn, soybean, potato and other plant materials. While “first-generation” bio-plastics are a promising step in creating renewable materials for the future, there are still some technological and economical challenges to overcome, such as their relatively short shelf-life, greater permeability to water and lack of suitable waste collection systems... We are actively working on developing viable solutions for the coming years!

Sources:
(1) Based on a March 2007 national survey of half-litre bottles in the water, soda and tea categories.
(2) With the exception of the Arrowhead natural spring water the label of which is 25% smaller than the label of the Eco-Shape bottle.