Colorado-based Biota debuts spring-fed water in commercially compostable bottles molded of polylactide.

Biota offers Colorado premium spring water bottled with an altitude, sourced from a spring located 9,010’ above sea level. The bottles also have a materials attitude—they are the first in the world to be molded of a natural plastic, polylactide, or PLA, which is derived from corn, a renewable resource. In that regard, Biota is achieving a high-water mark for sustainable packaging.

Biota offers Colorado premium spring water bottled with an altitude, sourced from a spring located 9,010’ above sea level. The bottles also have a materials attitude—they are the first in the world to be molded of a natural plastic, polylactide, or PLA, which is derived from corn, a renewable resource. In that regard, Biota is achieving a high-water mark for sustainable packaging. The wheels of progress turned slowly for Zutler for the next six years. In 2002 he obtained an easement and a pipeline to tap the mountain spring. He was still planning to bottle his product in PET when a local newspaper published a story about how the growing volume of PET bottles was polluting the earth. Started up in June 2004, Biota’s new bottling line is located at the company-owned plant in Ouray, CO. The operation receives PLA preforms molded in Salt Lake City by Planet Friendly Products, a company that is the result of a strategic alliance between Biota and a molder. The preforms are injection molded from PLA resin by a 24-cavity Husky HyPET 120 unit that Zutler calls a HyPLA 120. Three sizes of bottles are currently in production: a 12-oz STUBBY and 1¼2-and 1-L sizes.