Environment
Waterbrands is working hard to minimise the impact on the environment made by the production and distribution of Thirsty Planet.
We know there are many areas where we’re doing very well, but we’re equally determined to make further improvements in the way we operate and manage every aspect of our business.
We are in discussion with The Carbon Trust to look at ways of further reducing our carbon footprint and are constantly working with our suppliers to reduce packaging and ensure as many components as possible are either made from recycled material or are easily recyclable.
Plastic bottles
There are currently both availability and pricing issues regarding the use of recycled PET in our bottles, but we are sure that this will change over the next few years. PLA (corn starch) is being used by some people, but there are serious issues regarding its technical performance, compostability claims and the environmental implications of the use of corn. PLA cannot be recycled with other bottles and this only confuses and frustrates the recycling of PET.
In the meantime, we have significantly reduced the amount of plastic we use by redesigning some of our bottles. This will save around 180 tonnes of material a year.
A 500ml Thirsty Planet bottle weights just 17g which compares favourably with the government’s waste watchdog, the Waste and Resources Management Programme (WRAP) optimum weight for a soft drinks container of 20g.
All our bottles are recyclable.
Other packaging
We buy as many of our raw materials as we can locally. When you pick up a bottle of Thirsty Planet, everything you see – the water, the bottle, the label and the cap – is sourced within an average distance of 50 miles from our bottling plant in Harrogate.
Our cardboard is made from a high level of recycled material and we are currently trialling shrinkfilm which is produced from recycled material.
Food miles
We rarely have an empty wagon entering or leaving our site. Over 90% of them come in carrying raw materials and go out with finished stock for our customers. We estimate that we have reduced our vehicle activity by around 35% in the last two years.
Using local suppliers and hauliers where at all possible has also helped us to significantly reduce vehicle activity and we will continue to monitor this.
We do not export Thirsty Planet – although we would love to talk to anyone interested in introducing the Thirsty Planet concept into an overseas market. What’s the point of taking bottled water halfway across the world when there’s usually a ready supply of perfectly good local water?
Waste recycling
All production waste is collected, bailed and recycled. We even have a guillotine on site that allows us to reuse the cardboard that comes in with our bottle deliveries.
In the office, everyone is encouraged to use scrap paper internally and all our office paper is collected for recycling.
We are always looking at ways to improve our operation and have a number of ongoing projects and initiatives aimed at energy and waste reduction.
We’ll keep you posted of developments and please drop us a line if you would like any further information.