Environmental Leader

Just five months after going to a 50-percent recycled plastics water battle, Naya Spring Waters is launching full-bore into recycled bottle territory.

The Canadian water bottler said it is the first to use a 100-percent recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) bottle. The bottle is made from plastic that previously was used as packaging, then recycled.

The bottle took seven years of research, Naya said.

The first bottles are going on sale in New York City in December, and by early 2010 they will be rolled out to the rest of North America.

Naya estimates that if 10 percent of the U.S. beverage industry went to 100 percent rPET, the packaging industry would save 715,000 barrels of virgin plastic annually.

In July, Naya introduced its 50-percent rPET bottle.

Other drink makers are upping their commitment to using recycled materials in their bottles.

Naked Juice, which is a subsidiary of PepsiCo., is using post-consumer recycled PET for its clear 32-ounce plastic bottles.

Coca-Cola has begun the global rollout of its PlantBottle and by the end of 2010 it expects to have sold more than 2 billion units. Depending on the place of manufacture, the PlantBottle contains up to 50 percent recycled materials, as well as plastic derived from plant-based materials.

In the UK, Danone’s bottles have been made with 25 percent recycled plastic, but the company wants to increase that to 50 percent or more within a few years. The company has also pledged to reclaim and recycle a bottle for every bottle sold in the UK.