Report
US bottled water industry has small environmental footprint
The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) recently commissioned a Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) study to determine the environmental footprint of the US bottled water industry. The results indicate that bottled water has a very small environmental footprint.
The study found:
- Measurement based on British Thermal Units (BTUs) indicates that the energy consumed to produce small-pack bottled water containers (from 8oz to 2.5 gallons) amounted to only 0.067% of the total energy use in the US in 2007. Home and Office Delivery (HOD) bottled water (reusable bottles from 2.5 to 5 gallons) energy consumption only amounted to 0.003% of the total energy used in the US in 2007.
- The small-pack and HOD bottled water industries’ combined greenhouse gas/CO2 emissions amounted to only 0.08% of total US greenhouse gas emissions.
- Bottled water packaging discards accounted for only 0.64% of the 169m tonnes of total US Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) discards in 2007.
- The process and transportation BTU energy use for the bottled water industry was only 0.07% of total US BTU primary energy consumption.
- Greenhouse gas emissions per half-gallon of single-serve bottled water came to 426.4g CO2 equivalent, which is 75% less CO2 eq per half-gallon than orange juice.
- Small-pack bottled water generates 46% less CO2 eq when compared to soft drinks also packaged in PET plastic.
Franklin Associates, a division of ERG, produced the LCI and prepared a report that quantified the energy requirements, solid waste generation and greenhouse gas emissions for the production, packaging, transport and end-of-life management for bottled water consumed in the US in 2007.
According to a 2008 Beverage Marketing Corporation report, total consumption of bottled water in the US in 2007 was 8.8bn gallons.
The environmentally aware actions of many bottled water companies – such as the use of more recycled PET (rPET) in their bottle production, increasing recycling rates, and enhanced lightweighting – have positively impacted the environmental footprint of the industry.
Another recent study confirms the bottled water industry’s very small environmental footprint. On 2 March 2010, Nestlé Waters North America, an IBWA member, released peer-reviewed findings on its environmental footprint in a study conducted by Quantis International.
Key findings from the study include:
- Water is the least environmentally ‘impactful’ beverage option.
- Tap water has lightest footprint, followed by tap water consumed in reusable bottles (if used more than 10 times), and then by bottled water.
- Bottled water is the most environmentally responsible packaged drink choice.
- Sports drinks, enhanced waters and soda produce nearly 50% more carbon dioxide emissions per serving than bottled water.
- Juice, beer and milk produce nearly three times as many carbon dioxide emissions per serving than bottled water.
- Milk, coffee, beer, wine and juice together comprise 28% of a consumer’s total beverage consumption, but represent 58% of climate change impact.
Source: International Bottled Water Association
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