Logistics issues in bottled water supply chain raises environmentalists' attention

Filed in archive Market Overview on May 20, 2007

With the Green supply chain movement gaining momentum on all fronts, an environmental rights group called the Worldwatch Institute has taken aim at the bottled water industry.

"Bottled water may be an industry winner, but it's an environmental loser," says Ling Li, a fellow with the Institute's China Program.

The group cites the oil used to make the plastic water bottles, the waste of the used bottles going into landfills, and the impact processing of the water can have in reducing local water supplies.

The Worldwatch web site says, "Excessive withdrawal of natural mineral or spring water to produce bottled water has threatened local streams and groundwater, and the product consumes significant amounts of energy in production and shipping. Millions of tons of oil-derived plastics, mostly polyethylene terephthalate (PET), are used to make the water bottles, most of which are not recycled. Each year, about 2 million tons of PET bottles end up in landfills in the United States."

The comments come as sales of bottled water both in the U.S. and around the world continue to enjoy rapid growth. In the U.S., estimates are that bottled water is a more than $10 billion market. But growth is rapid in Europe, China and India as well.

Part of the environmental argument, it appears, will be that in developed countries with good water supplies, tap water is just as clean, if not cleaner, than bottled water, and has none of the environmental impact that bottled water does, from plastic to the energy used for delivery.

(Source: SC Digest)