Weighing an average of 9.3gms, the bottle contains 25 per cent less plastic than its predecessor and 60 per cent less plastic than the company's original, pre-Eco-Shape half-litre PET bottle, introduced in the mid-‘90s.
"The second-generation Eco-Shape bottle is our gold standard for lightweighting, and is among the lightest half-litre plastic bottles available in the marketplace today," said Andrius Dapkus, the company’s director of innovations and renovations. "We've reduced our use of plastic resin by 80m pounds annually, while also making sure the bottle is durable and appealing for consumers."
Annual saving
Last September, Nestle Water North America CEO Kim Jeffrey predicted that reducing bottle weight from 12.5g to 9.5g would mean that a 24 pack half-litre case would contain only 8oz of plastic. The lighter container would cut Nestle’s volume purchase of PET resin by 95m lbs a year, delivering an annual saving of $62m based on market rates in July, he said.
Meanwhile, Dapkus re-affirmed the company’s commitment to the sometimes turbulent bottled water sector. "Bottled water continues to be one of the fastest growing packaged beverages,” he said. “With about 70 per cent of US households drinking bottled water, reducing the plastic in our bottles is one of the best ways to reduce our carbon footprint."
The launch of Nestle Waters' lightest ever half-litre bottle will help the company exceed its goal for plastic reduction, or lightweighting, in its half-litre, single-serve bottles by an additional 15 per cent by 2010, it said.
Eco-Shape 9.3gm half-litre bottle is currently rolling out the following brands: Poland Spring, Brand Natural Spring Water, Arrowhead, Brand Mountain Spring Water and Nestle Pure Life, and Purified Water.
Spring water brands
From next spring, the Eco-Shape bottle will be used for the half-litre regional spring water brands: Deer Park, Brand Natural Spring Water, Ice Mountain, Brand Natural Spring Water, Ozarka, Brand Natural Spring Water, Zephyrhills and Brand Natural Spring Water. Additional product sizes are planned for next year.
The company has also introduced a cap for them which will weigh only one gram. And the company has eliminated cardboard side walls from most of its 24-packs of bottled water.
Nestle pledged to develop a next-generation bottle made entirely from recycled materials or renewable resources by 2020.