Nestlé Waters North America has begun rolling out a new recycling label in the US, which it said would make its on-pack recycling messaging ‘clearer and more consistent’.
The How2Recycle mark will appear on half-litre bottles of its major water brands, including Nestlé Pure Life, Poland Spring, Deer Park and Ice Mountain. The label includes the instruction ’empty and replace cap’, helping consumers understand ways in which they can contribute to making recycling more effective.
The move comes a day after research from packaging company Alpla found that reusing plastic bottles was 80% more effective in sustainability terms than creating bottles from new, and follows the launch of a campaign by Coca-Cola to encourage consumers in the UK to reuse their empty bottles.
Nestlé Waters will become the first beverage manufacturer in North America to add the How2Recycle label, which was first created in 2012 by the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, to all of its major US bottled water brands.
Nestlé Waters North America chief sustainability officer Nelson Switzer said: “Our goal has been to find a compelling and simple way to educate and encourage all Americans to recycle the bottle. By adopting the How2Recycle label, millions of consumers will now have a clear and consistent recycling guide on the side of the bottle – driving recovery of the bottle and a reduction in environmental impact. We hope our peers and other manufacturers of packaged goods will adopt the How2Recycle labelling standard to help stimulate a revolution in US recycling.”
Nestlé Pure Life began the initiative this month with the How2Recycle label being added to certain Nestlé Pure Life half-litre bottles produced in the US. Following on from the current Nestlé Pure Life rollout, the new label will begin to appear on certain Poland Spring, Deer Park, Ozarka, Ice Mountain and Zephyrhills-branded half-litre bottles in August. Arrowhead will be the final brand to adopt the label for its own half-litre bottles. Nestlé Waters expects to complete the phase-by-phase rollout by September.
Kelly Cramer, How2Recycle lead for the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, said: “We cannot overstate the environmental importance of the ’empty and replace cap’ instruction on these bottles; it means fewer loose caps will have the potential to get into our waterways and oceans. Importantly, it also helps ensure that the caps will be recycled. That’s because when caps are replaced on bottles that go through the recycling stream, it’s less likely that they will fall through recyclers’ equipment and be discarded. Nestlé Waters’ confident move to put the How2Recycle label so prominently on so many bottles is a statement that they are serious about helping people recycle more, and better.”
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024