Nestlé Waters UK to include recycled plastic in all its bottles

Nestlé Waters UK has announced plans to introduce recycled plastic to every single water bottle produced at its UK production facility in Buxton.

The company estimates that its Buxton Natural Mineral Water and Nestlé Pure Life bottles will contain 20% recycled plastic (rPET) from April onwards.

Recycled plastic will be included in both sparkling and still Buxton mineral water and all Nestlé Pure Life bottles packaged in pack formats.

The company has also announced it will co-fund an initiative led by the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, which aims to eradicate plastic packaging waste from drinks containers in the UK.

The project aims to develop a roadmap and sustainability plan for companies in the UK drink sector, and a statement from the company estimates that this will be published in summer 2018.

Hayley Lloyd House, head of communications at Nestlé Waters UK said: “As a business we have a responsibility to protect the environment, today and for future generations to come.

“We have a longstanding relationship with the marathon through our different brands that have sponsored the event over the last 20 years.

“This event will be the first opportunity for consumers to use our bottles containing recycled plastic. Launching the bottles at the event is particularly poignant for us as the drive to include more recycled plastic in our packaging is indeed a marathon and not a sprint.”

“We are working in closely with industry partners and stakeholders to improve the amount of recycled materials in our products but we can only achieve long-term success if consumers, government and industry join forces to improve recycling practices.”

“We also invest in a number of education programmes that we hope inspires the next generation of recyclers to better understand what can be recycled and what to look out for on labels.

“The introduction of recycled plastic into our water business highlights how valuable our PET plastic bottles are because when recycled they can be transformed into something new again,”