Does the bottled water cooler industry recycle its water bottles?

27/02/2012 By The British Water Cooler Association

Yes it does, and more items too. Bottled water for water coolers is supplied in large 19 litre polycarbonate plastic containers which are returned to the bottler for refilling some 50 times during their lifetime, unlike the smaller 1 litre retail-pack bottles made of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) plastic which are only used once before they are recycled. The large polycarbonate bottles used by the water cooler industry are recycled at the end of their useful life and used in the manufacture of many non-food products, such as car parts. There is no wastage, or dumping in landfill sites.

To ensure that empty bottles are returned to the water cooler company for refilling, the industry norm is for a bottle deposit to be charged on the full bottles when they are delivered and refunded on the empty bottles being collected.

The bottled water cooler industry also recycles its plastic bottle caps which are made of HDPE - polyethylene plastic as well as the packaging materials of its inbound products.

The British Water Cooler Association (BWCA) mandates all its members to participate in a scheme, under the WEEE regulations and finance the collection and recycling of water coolers at the end of their useful life.

The BWCA also supports the Save-a-Cup scheme, whereby polystyrene cups are collected and recycled to make many products which are then sold by the Save-a-cup organisation to finance the administration and collection of its recycling activities.

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