MYTH: Bottled Water is a recent marketing phenomenon
THE FACTS:
• The water bottling and distribution business is one of the oldest forms of commerce in the world.
• The origins of bottled water can be traced back to 10,000 B.C., where early man was transporting and supplying water from natural sources in primitive vessels and skins to their dwellings.
• Canadians have been purchasing spring water in bottles made of glass, plastic and other materials for more than 125 years (Montclair).
MYTH: The bottled water industry doesn’t care about recycling
THE FACTS:
• Per household, Canadians discard about 500 pounds of newsprint per year, but only 20 pounds of plastic containers, including beverage, household and personal care products.1
• Studies show that recycling plastic bottles into new products saves 50% to 60% of the energy that would be required to make the same product from raw materials.2 PET water bottles are 100% recyclable.
• Plastic water bottles are the third most recycled product in Canada, behind newspapers and aluminum. They are also the third most valuable item in a recycling program and, when recycled, are used to make playground equipment, automobile parts, carpeting, fleece clothing, sleeping bags, shoes, luggage, other plastic containers, etc. 3
• Plastic water bottles account for about 40% of all plastic beverage containers used in Canada, behind soft drink containers.4
• According to Stewardship Ontario, plastic beverage containers, including plastic water bottles, account for 0.5% of the total waste stream in Ontario and plastic water bottles account for only 0.2%. If the industry disappeared tomorrow, there would be no appreciable decrease in the volume of refuse going to landfill.
• Almost all Canadians who drink bottled water say they recycle the bottles. In a 2008 report by Leger Marketing, 96% of Canadian bottled water drinkers said they recycle their plastic water bottles.
• 97% of Canadians have access to a municipal recycling program and 90% of these programs offer plastics recycling.5 All of these programs are partially funded by Nestlé Waters Canada and its industry partners.6
• The recovery rate for plastic averages 60%, but varies between 55 and 80% nationally, depending on the efficiency of a given municipal recycling
program. 7
Nestlé Waters Canada and its industry partners recently entered into a $7.2 million, three-year agreement with the Government of Quebec and municipalities across that province to collect and recycle plastic beverage containers and other recyclable materials in public spaces. The program is capturing an estimated 85 percent of recyclables in public spaces, including plastic, glass, aluminum and paper, according to program management Gaia Environmental. As a result of its public education and mass communications support activities, the program is also having a halo effect on the province’s existing curbside program, resulting in increased participation in that program. The Company and its industry partners plan to roll out similar programs across Canada, specifically focusing on British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. A pilot program is scheduled to begin in Sarnia, Ontario in May 2009.
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1The Benefits of Plastic Bottles, Environment and Plastics Industry Council.
http://www.cpia.ca/files/files/files_Benefits_of_plastic_Bottles.pdf.
2The Benefits of Plastic Bottles, Environment and Plastics Industry Council.
http://www.cpia.ca/files/files/files_Benefits_of_plastic_Bottles.pdf.
3Stewardship Ontario, 2007.
4 A.C.Nielsen, February 2009.
5Statistics Canada, Households and the Environment Survey, 2006.
6Stewardship Ontario. http://www.stewardshipontario.ca/bluebox/index.htm.
7Encorp Pacific, October 2008.
MYTH: The bottled water industry doesn’t care about the environment
THE FACTS:
• By reducing the size of its packaging over the last ten years by 30%, Nestlé Waters North America has reduced the amount of energy it uses by 30% annually and the amount of greenhouse gas emissions it produces by 22% annually over that time.
• Nestlé Waters North America’s 12.5-gram 500 ml Eco-Shape PET-based bottle will save 65 million pounds of resin in 2008 across the Nestlé world, reducing its current bottle’s lifecycle CO2 emissions by 8% over the previous bottle and by more than 30% over a typical 591 ml soft drink bottle. The Company manufactures its own bottles at each of its bottling facilities, saving the energy required to ship truckloads of empty bottles into its plants.
• Nestlé Waters Canada has reduced corrugate use by 88,000 tons over the last five year period, which is equivalent to saving 528,000 trees. Another 15% reduction is planned for 2009.
• On a global scale, Nestlé Waters S.A. uses just 0.03% of worldwide oil production (or just three hours worth of extraction) to meet its annual requirements for plastic bottle manufacturing.
MYTH: The bottled water industry doesn’t care about the health of Canadians
THE FACTS:
• Drinking water is a key and recommended component of a healthy lifestyle, according to Health Canada, complemented by proper food consumption and regular exercise. According to the Dietitians of Canada, the human body needs 8 – 12 cups of liquids a day to stay well hydrated.8
• Water plays a key role for health and wellness in today’s on-the-go society, particularly in an environment where 30% of those born after the year 2000 are obese, susceptible to diabetes and at risk of being the first generation not to outlive their parents.9
• In 2007, both Health Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Health identified obesity as the most critical, emerging health issue facing Canadians.10
• Water is a safe, portable and convenient beverage and a healthy alternative to soft drinks and other sugar-based, high-calorie products also found in plastic containers.
• More than 60% of Canadians drink bottled water every day – and 75% of them consume it because it is a portable, accessible and healthy choice.11 According to a May 2008 study by independent Canadian research firm Probe Research Inc., about 70% of Canadians said if bottled water wasn’t available, they’d consume less healthy alternatives. Similar research conducted in July 2007 amongst US consumers by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates pegged the number at 51%.
• Currently, 63% of Canadians say that they are trying to increase their water consumption as part of a healthy lifestyle12.
_____________________________________________ 8Dietitians of Canada, Beat the Heat with Lots of Fluids, August 11, 2006. 9Statistics Canada, National Population Health Survey on Obesity, April 2005. 10The Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Health, Government of Canada, February 15, 2007; The Honourable George Smitherman, Minister of Health, Province of Ontario, August 16, 2007. 11Independent survey conducted in May 2008 by Probe Research Inc.
MYTH: The bottled water industry is anti-tap
THE FACTS:
• Bottled water cannot replace tap water. Everyone deserves access to a safe, reliable and affordable supply of drinking water. We see our competition as other bottled beverages, not tap water.
• According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada: “Bottled water competes with a variety of other cold beverages, including carbonated soft drinks, milk, juices, soya beverages, energy drinks, and sport drinks and to a lesser extent with hot drinks such as coffee, tea and hot chocolate, and low alcohol wine coolers and ciders.”13
• Maintaining Canada’s municipal water and sewer infrastructure is vitally important for all consumers, including Nestlé Waters Canada. As users of Canada’s municipal water and sewer system (except to source its water), Nestlé Waters Canada and its employees support increased investment in this vital infrastructure by all levels of government so that each and every Canadian citizen has access to a safe and secure supply of tap water.
• Nestlé Waters Canada is not interested in engaging in a bottled water-versus-tap-water argument. In Nestlé Waters Canada’s view, drinking bottled water or tap water is not an either-or choice – and 70% of Canadians agree. They drink both.14
• Canadians do not spend money on bottled water at the expense of tap water. In fact, a study conducted in October 2006 by A.C. Nielsen indicated that 95% of the movement to bottled water is due to a shift from other beverages, most notably soft drinks, tea and milk.
• About 64% of Canadians drink bottled water out-of-home.15 “Away-from-home” generation accounts for about 63% of all PET beverage containers.16
• Bottled water is simply not tap water in a bottle. Nestlé Waters Canada uses underground sources on private property. According to a February 2009 AC Nielsen report, 92% of Canadian bottled water comes from spring water sources on private property.
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12ACNielsen PanelTrack Health & Wellness Survey 2006.
13Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, The Canadian Bottled Water Industry. http://www4.agr.gc.ca/AAFC-AAC/display-afficher.do?id=1171644581795&lang=eng –
14 A Clearer Perspective, Probe Research Inc., May 2008.
15Probe Research, May 2008.
16An Overview of Plastic Bottle Recycling in Canada. http://www.cpia.ca/files/files/files_plastic_bottle_recovery.pdf.
MYTH: The bottled water industry is depleting Canada’s water supply
THE FACTS:
• The earth’s hydrologic cycle naturally replenishes what Nestlé Waters Canada bottles and uses to bottle its spring waters. The renewable supply is what falls from the sky and runs off in rivers, often passing through lakes as it moves to the sea. Some goes underground, replenishing aquifers that can be tapped by wells. These flows are renewed every year and count as the water supply.
• The bottled water industry is a net importer of water into the Great Lakes region. According to a 1999 International Joint Commission (IJC) report on bottled water, for every 1 litre of bottled water exported out of the region, there were 9 litres imported into the Great Lakes region. An update from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources states that in 2005, for every 1 litre exported, 14 litres were imported.
• According to the Ontario Sewer & Watermain Construction Association “The underground pipes carrying water to residents across Ontario are so old and leaky that 20 to 40% of all the treated water goes into the ground before it gets to your taps. For the City of Toronto, even a conservative estimate of 25% represents a loss of more than 120 million cubic meters of water a year – enough to fill more than 50,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools […] It is estimated that this massive leakage costs Ontario ratepayers up to a billion dollars annually.”
• The bottled water industry in Ontario uses as much water as ten golf courses in Ontario – a province where there are more than 700 golf courses.
• Commercial bottled water production in Ontario accounts for less than 0.0014% of all water used by other permitted users including commercial, agricultural, industrial and recreational.
• The Canadian bottled water industry uses just .02% of permitted water in Canada compared to thermal power generation (64%), manufacturing (14%), municipalities (12%), agriculture (9%) and mining (1%).
• About 97% of water drawn by bottled water companies is bottled.
• It takes 1.4 litres of water to produce one litre of Nestle Pure Life in Canada.
• According to Environment Canada :
o It takes 39 090 gallons (about 148 000 litres) of water to manufacture a new car, including new tires.
o It takes 62 600 gallons of water to produce one ton of steel. That's about 215 000 litres of water to produce one metric ton of steel.
o It takes 9.3 gallons (about 35 litres) of water to process one can of fruit or vegetables.
o It takes nearly 14 gallons (about 53 litres) of water to grow a medium-sized orange (4.6 ounces/130 grams) and to prepare it, in a packing plant, for market.
o It takes 48.3 gallons (about 183 litres) of water to produce one eight-ounce glass of milk.
o It takes about 45% more water to make a slice of white bread (10.6 gallons/40 litres) than a slice of brown bread (7.3 gallons/28 litres).
• A litre of bottled water sells for about 38 cents. A litre of regular unleaded gasoline sells for 87 cents.
MYTH: Bottled water companies cause damaging environmental impacts on individual watersheds by removing large amounts of water. The bottling process drains freshwater resources. For example, Nestlé Waters Canada’s extraction of 3.6 million litres per day in Aberfoyle, Ontario, is causing a reversal of groundwater flow to the Mill Creek.
THE FACTS:
• Nestlé Waters Canada current permit in Aberfoyle, Ontario, is for 2,500 litres per minute. Operating under the assumption that their plant is at full capacity, 60 minutes of each hour, 24 hours a day, this would translate into production of 3.6 million litres per day. However, like any manufacturing facility, Nestlé operates far less than 24 hours a day or 60 minutes an hour. Nestlé Waters Canada is currently using about 60% of the approved volume of permitted water to be taken.
• None of Nestlé Waters Canada’s tests have indicated any adverse effect on the levels of Mill Creek. As with tap water, the earth’s hydrologic cycle naturally replenishes the water Nestlé Waters Canada bottles.
• Bottled water companies have a vested interest to manage their spring and water sources sustainability, responsibly and efficiently in order to operate well into the future.
MYTH: Banning bottled water in public facilities does not violate one’s freedom of choice. We should not have to purchase water that does not go through the same testing as tap water in public places.
THE FACTS:
• Limiting consumers’ access to a safe, healthy beverage alternative out-of-home limits their freedom of choice.
• Bottled water cannot replace tap water. Everyone deserves access to a safe, reliable and affordable supply of drinking water. We see our competition as other bottled beverages, not tap water.
• Bottled water is held to the same scrutiny as tap water. According to Health Canada: “Consumers should be aware that bottled water is as safe to consume as tap water from a microbiological quality and chemical safety standpoint.” Bottled water is regulated as a packaged food product by Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency through the Food and Drugs Act.
• Nestlé Waters Canada customers have never suffered an illness due to the consumption of its products and its competitors’ customers have never reported illnesses due to their bottled water consumption, according to the Canadian Bottled Water Association.
• According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency: Quality standards for bottled and municipal waters are similar. Both bottled and municipal waters that meet or exceed their required health and safety standards are considered to be safe. No waterborne disease outbreaks have been associated with drinking bottled water in Canada.
• “The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) regularly inspects domestic bottled water manufacturers, and samples and analyses both domestic and foreign products to ensure that bottled water sold in Canada meets the requirements of Division 12 of the Food and Drug Regulations and is safe for human consumption. Some provincial and municipal agencies also conduct surveillance of bottled waters. In addition, manufacturers that are members of bottled water associations must follow additional specific requirements to ensure the quality of their products.”
• The Canadian Bottled Water Association (http://www.cbwa.ca/) holds all its members to very high product standards that exceed those of the federal and provincial governments. For example, Nestlé Waters Canada quality assurance staff test its products at least 1,700 times each day at its Aberfoyle plant, and meet or exceed all requirements of Health Canada and other governing bodies.
• Testing is also conducted via surprise inspections by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Health Canada, the Canadian Bottled Water Association and NSF InternationalNSF International, an independent and highly-regarded public health and food safety inspection agency. NSF is a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Food and Water Safety and Indoor Environment.
• Nestlé Waters Canada subjects its finished products and source water to microbiological analysis every day that exceeds the microbiological requirements outlined in the Safe Drinking Water Act, an Ontario statute. Nestlé Waters Canada is required to test for 160 compounds in both source and finished product for:
• Daily – coliform, E-coli
• Weekly – coliform, E-coli
• Quarterly – chemicals
• Annually – metals, chemicals and minerals
• Nestlé Waters Canada consistently meets or exceeds requirements for water quality, good manufacturing processes and clear, consistent labeling.
MYTH: Unlike tap water, bottled water is not produced locally.
THE FACTS:
• The bottled water industry proudly employs approximately 11,000 people in Ontario alone who work at local plants, bottling local water. It employs 13,000 across Canada.
• Approximately 98% of the water bottled at Nestlé Waters Canada Aberfoyle bottling facility is distributed in Ontario and Quebec and stays within the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence water basin.
MYTH: Bottled water bans are a quickly growing movement. Canadians may have access to recycling but they don’t use it - rejecting bottled water is the only way to truly eliminate impacts on our landfills
THE FACTS:
• PET bottles are 100% recyclable. They are also safe to use, as they don’t contain BPA.
• According to Stewardship Ontario, plastic beverage containers, including plastic water bottles, account for 0.5% of the total waste stream in Ontario. Plastic water bottles for only 0.2%.
• Almost all Canadians who drink bottled water say they recycle the bottles. In a 2008 report by Leger Marketing, 96% of Canadian bottled water drinkers said they recycle their plastic water bottles. Bottled water drinkers in the Prairies said they recycled the least at 87%. In Ontario and Alberta, almost all (98%) of bottled water drinkers said they recycled.
• “Ontario's Waste Diversion Act requires all companies that introduce packaging and printed material into Ontario’s consumer marketplace ("Stewards") to share in paying 50% of the funding of Ontario's municipal Blue Box waste diversion programs.”
• Most Canadians, who have access to recycling, use it. While recycling rates vary across Canada, improving access to recycling facilities (especially in multi-family dwellings and public spaces) will improve recovery rates. Recovery rates are especially high in single family dwellings.
o A Toronto 2005 single family housing waste audit conducted over four seasons found an 87.8% recycling rate for PET Beverage Containers. A Toronto 2007 multi-family housing waste audit conducted over four seasons found a 37.1% recycling rate for PET Beverage Containers.
o A Halton Region 2007 single family housing waste audit conducted over four seasons found a 78% recycling rate for PET Beverage Containers.
o A Hamilton 2006 single family housing waste audit conducted over three seasons found an 83.5% recycling rate for PET Beverage Containers. A fourth season (Fall 2006) was undertaken with a different sort methodology that separates alcoholic beverage PET from non-alcoholic beverage PET and this identified a recycling rate of 88.8% for non-alcoholic beverage PET. Please note that from fall 2006 forward all Stewardship Ontario Municipal waste audits used this new methodology.
o A Durham Region 2005 single family housing waste audit conducted over four seasons found a 75.1% recycling rate for PET Beverage Containers. (Based on Waste Audits as reported by Stewardship Ontario: http://www.stewardshipontario.ca/bluebox/eefund/projects/audits/waste_audit_sf.htm).
o Industry partners are in discussion with a number of municipalities to implement public spaces recycling programs, funded in part by the industry. Such a pilot program in Quebec resulted in, on average, an 85% participation rate amongst consumers and businesses.
• Approximately 67 municipalities and school boards across Canada have or are considering bans on bottled water -- 36 have rejected the notion, 13 have approved the idea in various forms and 18 are considering their options. Most municipalities and school boards across Canada have rightly determined that there are more important matters to consider, like properly maintaining their water and sewer infrastructure and making a meaningful and lasting impact on the efficient and conservative use of water.
MYTH: Challenging bottled water will improve the public system and ensure clean drinking water standards for all communities across the country
THE FACTS:
• Consumers do not spend money on bottled water at the expense of tap water. The majority of Canadians (70% ) drink a combination of bottled and tap water. They drink tap water at home and bottled water out-of-home to support their busy, on-the-go lifestyles.
There are a number of initiatives Canadians can focus on to help preserve, protect and strengthen our water systems, that are more effective than targeting bottled water:
• Call on government to make water and sewer infrastructure development and maintenance a priority;
• Make all residential, commercial and industrial water takers pay their fair share of the real cost of water consumption;
• Address the inefficient use of water by municipalities, agriculture and industries;
• Require treatment of wastewater before it is returned to rivers, lakes and oceans;
• Invest in related public education and communications about water conservation and protection.
For further information contact:
John Challinor
Director of Corporate Affairs
Nestlé Waters Canada
1-888-565-1445, ext. 6441
(519) 767-6441
john.challinor@waters.nestle.com