City of Thunder Bay Rejects Proposal to Ban Bottled Water

Posted by Andrew on 9 June 2010 | 2 Comments

Tags: News

We at CapSnap Equipment received an interesting email recently regarding a proposal to ban the sale of bottled water in the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario.

 

Please find attached a media report from Thunder Bay, and a letter CBWA sent to Mayor Peterson (and City Councilors) that was entered into record. John Challinor from Nestle Waters was able to attend and present to the City Council of Thunder City yesterday (Monday, June 7, 2010).

 

A special thank you to Rob and Andrew Dubinsky, Sasi Water, Thunder Bay for all their efforts locally and keeping CBWA informed of all activities on this matter , and to John Challinor, Nestle Waters for all his hard work, travel to Thunder Bay and presentation to the Mayor of Thunder and the City Councilors.

 

It is a victory for the citizens of Thunder Bay by their elected officials by continuing to allow individual freedom of choice.

 

As always, CBWA would be very interested in receiving information from each of its members regarding local activities (within their towns/city or region) relating to potential by-laws and/or legislation restricting access to bottled water. We monitor this type of activity, but often those within the town/city could have information prior to general public announcements.

 

The following is the letter sent by the CBWA to the city council of Thunder Bay:

 

Dear Mayor Peterson and Members of Council:

The reason for this letter is to clarify much of the confusion and misinformation that exists about bottled water and to offer the Canadian Bottled Water Association (CBWA) as a resource to provide you with factually based information. All statements contained within this document can be verified by independent, arms length third parties.

Recently, it has come to our attention that the City of Thunder Bay is considering a proposal to ban the sale of bottled water from all municipal buildings and facilities. One of the reasons often cited is that municipal tap water, which is safe and clean, is available so bottled water alternative is not necessary.

This argument might have some merit if customers were buying bottled water as an alternative to tap water. However, according to a study conducted in May of 2006 by Probe Research Inc., 70% of adults who purchase bottled water do so as an alternative to tap water. As well, CBWA members bottle spring (ground) water, which represents over 90% of bottled water sold. As a regulated food product, natural spring water cannot be modified from its natural state (cannot modify compounds, mineral content or add chemicals).

Some policy makers contend that too many plastic bottles end up in landfill. Policy makers should be reminded that water is not the only beverage product available in plastic bottles, in fact, a variety of beverages are available in this type of container. Plastic beverage containers, including bottled water packaging, account for 1/5 of 1 percent of the waste in stream.

This is further supported upon examination of recycling rates. According to provincial authorities such as Encorp Pacific, Alberta Beverage Container Recycling Corporation, Stewardship Ontario, Eco Enterprises Quebec, and Encorp Atlantic, national recycling rates for plastic beverage containers in 2009 was 66%. In fact, PET plastic trails only newspapers and aluminum in its value to recycling programs.

Polycarbonate and PET plastic bottles are 100% recyclable. The larger bottles, for use with water coolers, are typically reusable 40 to 60 times before the need to be recycled. Once recycled, these plastics are used to make everything from playground equipment, cell phones, clothing, to automobile parts.

The bottled water industry is certainly doing its part to reduce its impact on the environment. The trend among our industry has been to develop and use bottles that are thinner and lighter, using less plastic - the weight of the typical water bottles is about half that of other packaged beverages. The CBWA and its partners have been working with local governments to assist in public spaces recycling programs and to increase ALL consumer packaging recycling in order to decrease landfill as well as litter.

One must also question why bottled water is being singled out, given the fact that water is the healthiest beverage option available. If bottled water were the only beverage to be sold in plastic bottles, that choice would be obvious. However, at a time when health providers and policy makers are struggling with sharply increased rates of diabetes and obesity, to ban the sale of calorie-free, sugar-free, and fat-free water, while continuing to allow the sale of other beverages sold in plastic bottles that cannot make these statements, is odd public policy indeed.

Some of the bottled water industry's critics allege that bottled water is not regulated. In fact, bottled water is regulated as a food by Health Canada. Water bottling companies are inspected by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Permits to take water must be applied for and obtained from provincial environment ministries. Bottling companies continuously test their product to ensure its quality, and CBWA members must adhere to the Association's stringent Model Code, which includes unannounced third party audits, as a condition of membership.

Others contend that the industry is privatizing water, or taking undue amounts of water resources, to the detriment of others. In fact, permit data from provincial environment ministries shows, and confirmed by Environment Canada, that the bottled water industry in fact takes 0.02% of fresh water available for taking in Canada.

Finally, there is the issue of cost. Comparisons have been made between the costs of bottled water to the consumer versus the cost of tap water. Obviously, tap water is the cheaper of the two (approximately 1% of tap is used for human consumption). Independent market research firm A.C. Neilson has identified bottled water as costing 34 cents per litre (2010), or about 17 cents per 500 ml bottle, while municipalities correctly point out that tap water is available for a fraction of a penny per litre. Why, they ask, does anyone buy bottled water?
As stated above, consumers do not view bottled water as an alternative to tap water but rather as an alternative to other packaged beverages. Like other beverages, bottled water will always be cheaper when purchased by the case (i.e. 24 units) as opposed to purchasing one individual serving from a convenience store or vending machine.

While the decision to ban bottled water from municipal halls, community centres, and skating rinks is largely symbolic, there are some concrete and positive steps that policy makers can take in order to make a real difference. First, increase the number of recycling containers and receptacles in public spaces. History has demonstrated that the public will participate in recycling programs when they are available. Excellent examples are the public space recycling pilot projects in the City of Sarnia and the Province of Quebec. Implementing a public space recycling pilot project will yield similar positive results, allow your citizens choice of which beverages or municipal tap water to consume (when away from home), and increase recycling rates, not just for plastic water bottles, but for all consumer packaging used outside of the home.

Secondly, conduct enhanced public education campaigns about litter, whether that litter consists of a plastic bottle or a paper cup, so that littering becomes socially unacceptable.

Finally, the CBWA encourages municipalities to not only maintain their current high standards for tap water, but also to instill greater public confidence in their water infrastructure. Canadians should feel confident about their public services.

The CBWA would be interested in meeting with you in the near future to discuss in more detail the points briefly outlined in this letter, and other important matters regarding the bottled water industry. Please feel free to have your staff contact me direct through my office at (XXX) XXX-XXXX to discuss the bottled water industry further. We look forward to providing you with details on the bottled water industry and understanding the needs of the City of Thunder Bay.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Griswold
Executive Director

 

Many of the questions the CBWA addresses in their letter are common misconceptions that we have seen time and time again, yet continue to crop up. It's good to see the CBWA take the initiative to combat this sort of misguided proposal.