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Bottled water is a booming industry with a global market size of $220 billion that is providing consumers thirst for convenience and hydration on the go. Unfortunately, this category has become synonymous with waste due to bottled water being bottled in PET plastic bottles. With over 7.7 billion plastic water bottles being consumed in the UK every year (that's more than 150 per Brit!), combined with only 45% of plastic actually being recycled - this means that almost 16 million bottles are day end up in landfill or polluting our cities, rivers and oceans. This accumulating single-use plastic problem has detrimental effects on the environment and marine life, with over 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals killed by ocean plastic every year.
In recent years, there has been a growing emphasis on sustainable packaging for bottled water and steering away from single-use plastic, with companies and consumers alike looking for packaging formats that are eco-friendly and reduce waste.
In addition, there is a growing need for a consumer behaviour shift from consuming single-use items (such as bottled water) to purchasing products that are designed for reusability and multi-use consumption. Opting for a reusable bottle that is designed for refilling and reusability helps reduce the number of bottles ending up in landfill. If 1 in 10 Brits refilled their bottle just once a week, we’d save about 340 million plastic bottles a year.
In this guide, we will explore some of the sustainable bottled water types options that are currently available on the market, breaking down the most popular sustainable bottled water brands by category, with their own benefits, reusability and drawbacks versus their counterparts and PET bottles.
Without further ado, here are the sustainable alternatives to single-use plastic bottled water in the UK, by category.
One sustainable bottled water packaging option is glass. Glass is a natural and recyclable material that can be used to create durable, presentable bottles that you would often see in hotels and restaurants. Glass bottles can be recycled over and over again without ever reducing their quality, making them a sustainable alternative to single-use plastics. Glass is a brittle material, so it might smash if you knock it or drop it - so be wary if you put it in your bag! Given this, we think glass bottles are less reusable than aluminium bottles, but are great for indoor reusability and promoting refilling indoors.
Another sustainable bottled water packaging option is rPET, or recycled polyethylene terephthalate. rPET is a type of plastic that is made from recycled PET bottles - helping reduce the accumulating plastic waste associated with PET bottled water. This makes it a more sustainable alternative to traditional PET bottles, which is derived from non-renewable fossil fuels and can take on average 450 years to decompose in the environment. rPET bottles aren’t infinitely recyclable, unlike aluminium, and degrade after each recycle, and suffer from a recyclability rate of just 45% - meaning that 55% of plastic doesn’t actually get recycled and ends up in landfill or pollutes our cities, rivers and oceans. rPET bottles are designed to be single-use and thus still contribute to the continued waste problem of plastic bottles. The latest rPET bottled water brands in the UK include Buxton Water and Smart Water.
Related: Aluminium Bottled Water vs Plastic Bottled Water: Which is Best?
A third sustainable packaging option for bottled water is boxed (or carton) water. Carton water is packaged in a square cardboard carton, which is made from renewable materials such as paperboard and plant-based plastics. The shape of the bottle allows for increased transport efficiency and cutting down on the carbon footprint associated with freight transport. Boxed water is designed to be for single-use consumption - and although it is more sustainable than PET - it is better to opt for a bottle that is reusable and refillable. The most popular boxed water brands in the UK are Aquapax, Water in a Box and Carton Water.
A recent trend in the bottled water market in the UK is the use of aluminium cans for packaging water. Aluminium cans can be infinitely recycled and benefit from having a higher recyclability rate than PET, making them a sustainable option for bottled water. Additionally, aluminium cans are lightweight and compact, which reduces their carbon footprint during transportation. The nature of cans means that they are designed for single-use consumption and not for reusability - so are a good option if you are looking to drink the water in one go, but less so if you want to carry around and refill throughout the day. The most popular aluminium canned water brands in the UK are CanO Water, Evian Sparkling Water, Life Water and Radnor Hills canned water.
A final sustainable bottled water packaging option that is growing in popularity is aluminium bottled water. Aluminium is a lightweight and durable material that creates a bottle that is built to last and designed to be reused time and time again. Just like canned water, aluminium bottled water benefits from being an infinitely recyclable material - with the added benefit of being resealable (versus cans) and reusable! For reference, our aluminium bottle prefilled with British spring water has a thick aluminium wall that creates a super durable bottle - with many of our customers refilling and reusing their bottle for months and months! The aluminium bottled water category is new,with altwater spearheading the change in this category for offering a reusable and infinitely recyclable alternative to PET bottled water.
To summarize, there are several sustainable bottled water packaging options available in the UK - each of which offers its own unique characteristics and benefits. By choosing a sustainable bottled water packaging option, you can help reduce the environmental impact of bottled water and support brands that are ditching single-use plastic bottled water for reusable or sustainable alternatives.
At altwater, we use a sturdy aluminium bottle prefilled with British spring water to offer a reusable alternative to wasteful bottled water. Our bottle is designed to feel and have the same reusability as a traditional steel flask, but with the added convenience of hydration on the go.
To learn why altwater is the future of bottled water, learn more by visiting our homepage or find us in store.
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