Wimbledon 2019: Evian pilots 100 percent rPET bottle at the UK tennis championships

10 Jul 2019 --- Emphasizing the heightened call for a circular economy, Evian has teamed up with recycling expert charity RECOUP to supply the Wimbledon 2019 tennis championship with bottled water packaged in 100 percent rPET plastic, while increasing the available number of recycling bins on the premises. The on-site activity aims to ensure that every plastic bottle collected from recycling bins and around the Wimbledon site is recycled into new plastic bottles. The initiative is a nod towards the Evian’s commitment to becoming a circular brand by 2025, with all bottles manufactured in this manner.

“Since 2018, Evian rPET has been sourced in France and virgin PET sourced in Europe,” James Pearson, Managing Director of Danone Waters UK & Ireland tells PackagingInsights. “As the brand moves towards 100 percent rPET we will continue to source the recycled rPET plastic from France. Following Wimbledon 2019, we will be ensuring that the plastic bottles collected for recycling on the Wimbledon ground will become bottles again in the UK.”

At Wimbledon this year, RECOUP has a key role in assessing sustainability activities. “The traceability of the process will be overseen by the environmental charity, who will provide an independent review of the rPET bottle recycling process at this year’s Championship,” says Pearson. “Specifically, the RECOUP team will make an assessment of each step of the recycling process and will then audit to ensure that the pilot’s criteria are met.”

In the UK, Danone has sought out partners to find solutions to reduce plastic packaging waste. Much of this is done through the National Hydration Council (NHC), of which Danone Waters UK is a founding member. “We have been working with University of Cambridge Institute of Sustainable Leadership on a roadmap to eliminate plastic packaging waste from UK bottled water and soft drinks,” notes Pearson.

“As part of our work with the NHC, we work with Hubbub to understand littering behaviour,” he adds. “Through this collaboration, we supported a large-scale trial in Leeds: ‘Leeds by Example,’ which almost doubled recycling on-the-go in Leeds City Center. We have also been members of Recoup for six years to promote awareness of plastics recycling. This has been done by using the Danone Nations Cup, which is a global football tournament for children, to promote recycling to primary school children in an engaging way through recycling vote bins.”

“At Danone, the parent company of Evian, we know that plastic in the environment is an increasingly important issue and believe big brands need to take a leadership role in becoming part of the solution,” Pearson further stresses. “Across our portfolio and around the world, Danone is firmly committed to the responsible usage of plastic. It is a material we need for our businesses and we understand our responsibility to ensure it is used sustainably.”’

Other brands have notably expressed similar ambitions to streamline and green-up supply chains with bottles manufactured from 100 percent rPET plastic. This month, PepsiCo announced that its premium bottled water brand LIFEWTR will be packaged in 100 percent rPET and that bubly sparkling water will no longer be packaged in plastic by 2020. Bubly will instead be packaged in aluminum cans. The company's AQUAFINA water brand will also offer aluminum can packaging in US food service outlets, while the brand tests the move in retail.

And last June, Coca-Cola announced that its GLACÉAU smartwater bottles will be made from 100 percent recycled plastic (rPET) by the end of the year in a move that is expected to remove 3,100 tons of virgin plastic from circulation. Coca-Cola in Great Britain also confirmed that it is on track to double the amount of rPET used in all other plastic bottles across its 20 brands to at least 50 percent in early 2020.

By Benjamin Ferrer

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