Mirabel, Quebec, Canada — Naya Spring Water will begin using bottles made from 100 percent recycled plastic this month in a move that illustrates the advances made in recycled-content packaging that will likely spread to other companies.
The Canada-based company has been researching how to make bottles with 100 percent recycled content over the past seven years, first introducing bottles with 25 percent and 50 percent recycled content in the last couple of years.
The new PET bottles, a commonly-recycled plastic identified by the number 1 resin code, are being introduced in New York City this month and will roll out across North America in early 2010. The Carbon Trust has certified the company's carbon footprint, and the switch to 100 percent recycled bottles results in a 30 percent lower carbon footprint than if the company used 100 percent virgin plastic.
But even when water is bottled in recycled plastic, it still results in a range of impacts from the shipping, storage and refrigeration of a product that flows freely from faucets around the world.
Nevertheless, Naya's move to 100 percent plastic will hopefully push other companies working to use more recycled content in their packaging, and adds to the list of companies that have been able to fully integrate recycled plastic into their products.
In the past year, Naked Juice has switched all of its 32 ounce bottles to ones made with 100 percent recycled PET, Earthbound Farm started packaging all of its salads in 100 percent recycled clamshells, and Direct Pack launched its fully-recycled Bottle Box in a range of sizes.
Non-consumables are available in 100 percent recycled content as well, including a wide variety of cleaners and sprays from Method.