The introduction helps Nestl a Waters exceed its goal for plastic reduction, or lightweighting, in its half-liter, single-serve bottles by an additional 15% by 2010, as outlined in the company's 2008 Corporate Citizenship Report.
An updated version [image-nocss] of the 2007 Eco-Shape bottle, among the first branded half-liter bottles in the beverage industry to be lightweighted, this next-generation bottle is Nestl a Waters' lightest half-liter bottle yet. Weighing 9.3 grams on average, this bottle contains 60% less plastic than the company's original, pre-Eco-Shape half-liter PET bottle, first introduced in the mid-1990s.
Using an average of 25% less plastic than its predecessor Eco-Shape bottle, the 9.3-gram half-liter bottle is currently rolling out in Poland Spring Brand Natural Spring Water, Arrowhead Brand Mountain Spring Water and Nestl a Pure Life Purified Water. Nestl a Waters will extend the lighter Eco-Shape bottle to its remaining half-liter regional spring water brandsDeer Park Brand Natural Spring Water, Ice Mountain Brand Natural Spring Water, Ozarka Brand Natural Spring Water and Zephyrhills Brand Natural Spring Waterbeginning in spring 2010. Roll-out of additional product sizes will also begin in 2010.
"Bottled water continues to be one of the fastest-growing packaged beverages," said Andrius Dapkus, director of innovations and renovations at Nestl a Waters North America, Greenwich, Conn. "With about 70% of U.S. households drinking bottled water, reducing the plastic in our bottles is one of the best ways to reduce our carbon footprint."
The company's first-generation Eco-Shape bottle was a significant step and is credited with reducing Nestl a Waters' carbon emission equivalents by more than 356,000 tonsthat's like removing 78,000 cars from the road since its launch in April 2007.
"The second-generation Eco-Shape bottle is our gold standard for lightweighting and is among the lightest half-liter plastic bottles available in the marketplace today," Dapkus said. "We've reduced our use of plastic resin by 80 million pounds annually, while also making sure the bottle is durable and appealing for consumers."
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