Evian and Volvic to become 'plastic neutral' in UK

www.environmental-finance.com
London, 12 February:

Danone Waters plans to make Evian and Volvic bottled water 'plastics-neutral' in the UK, through the use of recycled plastic. The scheme will save the company £250,000 ($356,000) in the first year of the 'closed-loop' plastic recycling initiative, which Danone plans to reinvest in environmental projects.

Recycling haulier Greenstar will collect polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles from recycling bins in the UK, then ship the plastic to an Artenius TurkPET factory in Dijon, France, where it will be processed and mixed with virgin PET, and used to make Evian and Volvic bottles for the UK market. Because the containers carrying the recycled PET would have otherwise travelled empty, Danone says the initiative will also reduce its carbon footprint. The company will use 5,000 tonnes of recycled PET in the first year of the initiative. It hopes to become 'plastics neutral' by 2011, using around 11,000 tonnes of the material.

Nick Krzyzaniak, general manager of Danone in the UK and Ireland, said the initiative "will also help Evian and Volvic towards our ultimate aim of becoming truly carbon neutral by 2011. The closed loop means that for every Evian and Volvic bottle sold here in the UK, one bottle will be recycled and the plastic reused. That's quite a step forward for our industry and the environment."

Richard Swannell, director of organics and retail at the Waste & Resources Action Programme, set up to encourage recycling in the UK, welcomed Danone's actions: "Incorporating 'rPET' into bottles has a clear environmental benefit in reducing the carbon footprint of bottle manufacture and using fewer natural resources." The scheme may be expanded beyond the UK in future, a Danone spokesman told Environmental Finance. He added it could help to "prime the pump" for further use of recycled PET by the UK's drinks sector.