IBWA's Main Environmental Issues

Posted by Andrew on 17 March 2010 | 0 Comments

Tags: News, CapSnap

The IBWA has added a page to their website that details what they see as the two main environmental issues that they are dealing with.

 

Bottled water companies work hard to protect the environment, and play an important role in promoting recycling of plastic containers and groundwater management.

 

The bottled water industry is one of thousands of food, beverage and commercial water users. Bottled Water companies actively support comprehensive ground water management practices that are science-based, treat all users equitably, multi-jurisdictional, and provide for future needs of this important resource. Even though it is a small ground water user, the bottled water industry has been instrumental in encouraging states to develop comprehensive, science-based ground water management and sustainability policies and laws.

 

IBWA members work with legislators, regulators, civic leaders, recycling advocates, and others to support legislation and initiatives that improve curbside recycling efforts and increase recycling at parks, sporting venues, other on-the-go locations, and in the home and office.

 

The main environmental issues IBWA faces are:

 

Groundwater Use
Annual bottled water production accounts for less than 2/100 of a percent (0.02%) of the total ground water withdrawn in the United States each year. The bottled water industry uses minimal amounts of ground water to produce this important consumer product-and does so with great efficiency.
In the event of drought or other water supply challenges, bottlers can adjust their water withdrawal to mitigate adverse impacts on a water resource. However, the industry is just one small piece of the puzzle and other water users must adopt the same protective measures to help ensure adequate resources for all.

Recycling
Plastic beverage bottles are among the most recycled packaged products in the U.S., and the bottled water industry is working to reduce its environmental footprint by using lighter-weight plastics for containers and increasing the fuel efficiency in the transportation of the product to market.
Bottled water containers - from individual serving size to five-gallon jugs - are fully recyclable and should be properly recycled through whatever system a local municipality has in place.
In fact, all bottled water containers-whether plastic, glass or aluminum-are recyclable, where recycling facilities exist. IBWA actively supports comprehensive curbside recycling programs and partners with other beverage and food companies, municipalities, and the recycling industry and seeks to educate consumers and reduce litter. When they are not recycled, convenience-sized water bottles do not make up a major part of the waste system, accounting for less than one-third of one percent all waste produced in the U.S. in 2005.
The larger bottles found on some home and office bottled water coolers can be sanitized and re-used dozens of times before the bottled water company removes them from the marketplace and recycles them. That is why the bottled water industry is considered one of the "original recyclers."

 

Link: http://www.bottledwater.org/content/recycling-and-environment

 

This brings up a few interesting points. We here a lot of news stories these days about groundwater levels around the country, especially in the western states. How this alters the bottled water industry is something to watch out for in the future. As for right now, this article shows that the IBWA is well aware of the issue, and is committed to using water efficiently.

 

Much has already been said about the increased recycling efforts of the bottled water industry, and this is just further evidence that bottlers continue to work to improve recycling rates. One interesting note is the comment that larger bottles can be sanitized and reused dozens of times before being recycled. This cleaning and reusing process is something that CapSnap Equipment is obviously very familiar with.