The Slimming of the Bottles

It is agreat to see E, a environmental magazine, covering bottled water in such a fair way.

They did a nice story on the lightweighting of the bottled water industry. Thanks to Kristin Bender for her reporting.

In the bottled water industry, they call the new bottles “water balloons.” A recent analysis of plastic bottles by the Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC) for the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) shows that between 2000 and 2008, the gram weight of the 16.9-ounce single-serve bottled water container dropped by nearly one third.

“Most people can tell the difference,’’ says Tom Lauria, IBWA spokesperson. “They squeeze easily, but they are droppable, shippable and strong.”

In 2000, the average polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottled water container weighed 18.9 grams. By 2008, that number had dropped to 12.7 grams, according to IBWA. The BMC estimated that during those eight years more than 1.3 billion pounds of PET resin was eliminated.

IBWA President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph K. Doss says his association gives credit to the plastic resin manufacturers who worked hard to find new ways to strengthen PET plastic resin so that less plastic goes further in maintaining the structural integrity of the thinner bottle. “Less can be used with equal results,’’ says Lauria.

The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) is the authoritative source of information about all types of bottled waters. Founded in 1958, IBWA's membership includes U.S. and international bottlers, distributors and suppliers. IBWA is committed to working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates bottled water as a packaged food product, and state governments to set stringent standards for safe, high quality bottled water products. Additionally, IBWA requires member bottlers to adhere to the IBWA Bottled Water Code of Practice, which mandates additional standards and practices that in some cases are more stringent than federal and state regulations. A key feature of the IBWA Model Code is an annual plant inspection by an independent, third party organization.

For more information about IBWA, bottled water and a list of member‚ brands, please contact
Jill Culora, IBWA‚ Vice President of Communications at 703-647-4609 or [email protected].

Bottled Water - small water use, big health benefits

This cool video shows how bottled water is a very small and very efficient water user that spares people of billions of calories when they choose to drink water over other packaged drinks.

The Slimming of the Bottles

Categories

Featured Videos

Bottled Water - small water use, big health benefits

Pin It on Pinterest