Packaging eco-system
All our preforms and bottles are manufactured at the source, reducing transport and related carbon emissions. We continually strive to further shrink our carbon footprint.
We recently reduced our label sizes and light-weighted the 5L bottle (22% less plastic).
We use Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) for the manufacture of our bottles.
PET has been rigorously tested under FDA guidelines to ensure its safety as a food and beverage container suitable for storage and recycling. PET bottles are BPA-free.
Eco-Bottle
We have launched our new eco-bottle, across the full range of products in an effort to lighten our environmental impact on the planet. The new eco-bottles are made using a mix of recycled PET plastic (30% rPET) and virgin plastic. The eco-bottles are 100% recyclable and suitable for bottle-to-bottle recycling.
Tsitsikamma Spring Water is the first South African spring water available in a bottle made using rPET, and the first water bottler to launch the use of rPET across its entire range of bottles. Tsitsikamma Spring Water is a delicate product and its packaging needs to ensure that the product you drink retains the water’s unique, naturally sweet and delicate taste. For this reason, we only use the highest quality rPET, which is supplied by Extrupet (Pty) Ltd.
Extrupet is the largest and most advanced recycler of PET bottles on the African continent. Through a distinctive process and adherence to international standards, Extrupet is able to produce a resin that compares favourably with the quality of virgin PET material, firmly establishing them as market leaders in the plastic recycling industry.
How can you, as a consumer, make a difference to our planet?
- Choose a clear or light blue tinted PET bottle – these can be recycled back into new bottles – to create a circular economy. Dark PET such as red, brown and dark green cannot be recycled into new rPET bottles.
- Choose a bottle with a small wrap-around label. These are easy to remove during the recycling process.
- Stick-on labels are difficult to remove, meaning these bottles generally end up in landfills.
- Make sure the cap is recyclable.
- Make sure your bottle is clean – drinking water is a great choice as the bottle’s contents are inherently clean. If you do drink a juice or soft drink, make sure you rinse your bottle before recycling it.
PET bottles are not single-use plastics
South Africa has one of the highest audited PET recycling rates in the world. In 2018 a recycling rate of 63% was achieved, which translates to 6.2 million PET bottles per day. In 2019 67% of PET was recycled and South Africa is on track to meet a target of a 70% PET recycling rate by 2020.
This means more PET bottles are being recycled compared to those that end up in landfills. The PET recycling industry has created an estimated minimum, of 68 000 income opportunities for waste-preneurs in SA in 2018. This has had a significant impact among the poorest and most vulnerable of our citizens in a country where unemployment rates are devastatingly high at over 29%. The PET Recycling Company (PETCO) is an industry-driven and industry-financed organization that drives PET recycling in SA.
They have done fantastic work in reaching PET recycling targets and placing South Africa as a world leader in PET recycling Tsitsikamma Spring Water has been a voluntary member of PETCO, contributing financially to recycling since 2006. For more information on PET recycling and how you can help please visit http://petco.co.za/.
Keep recycling, we’ll keep reusing.
Environmental Benefits
The bottling facility is now making use of renewable solar energy. By harnessing the power of the sun, the factory is achieving significant energy savings.
- We have a total of 367 solar panels with a total capacity of 265kW
- 1.04kg of CO2 emission saved per hr (or equivalent to the amount of CO2 absorbed by 0.3 trees)
- 109 tons (98 883 kg)of CO2 emissions saved per year. 365 trees per year (a tree a day)
