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PET water bottles are continuing to shed grams

PET water bottles are continuing to shed grams off their weight.

The weight of the single-serve bottled water container has dropped by 32.6% over the past eight years, according to analysis carried out by the Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC) for the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA).

The average PET bottled water container weighed 18.9g in 2000. By 2008, the average amount of PET resin in each bottle had decreased to 12.7g. BMC estimated that during this time, more than 1.3bn pounds of PET resin has been saved by the bottled water industry through container lightweighting.

In 2008, the bottled water industry saved 445m pounds of PET plastic by reducing the weight of its plastic bottles.

"IBWA is proud the bottled water industry has worked diligently to reduce the weight of its plastic bottles," said IBWA president and CEO, Joseph K Doss. "In addition, IBWA salutes the PET plastic resin manufacturers who worked hard to find new ways to strengthen PET plastic resin so that less plastic goes further in maintaining the structural integrity of the thinner bottle."

Although PET plastic bottled water containers make up a tiny fragment of the waste material going into landfills (according to the US EPA, the figure is a third of 1%), lightweighting lessens the impact of water bottles that are not recycled.

"Advances made in lightweighting bottled water containers reduce waste, preserve resources and deliver a more sustainable product to consumers," said Doss.

Since the conclusion of the BMC analysis in 2008, some IBWA member companies have reported further declines in bottle gram weight, with some containers currently on store shelves weighing less than 10g.

Source: IBWA

Related external links:

• Weight of PET water bottles decreasing (19.02.2010)

• Bottled water container recycling rate increases 32% (12.11.2009)

• A brief history of lightweighting (10.11.2009)

• GALLERY: Is lightweighting shaping the bottled water industry?

• Caring for the planet (23.09.2009)