Environmental sustainability is our daily commitment that promises a better tomorrow. We continually seek ways to deliver on our promise to protect the planet we call home. With our industry partners, we support uniform recycling initiatives at the local, state and federal level.
When it comes to packaging, we are focused on reusing, reducing and recycling
A longer bottle life means less plastic waste
Our branded 3-gallon (11.3 liter) and 5-gallon (18.9 liter) polycarbonate water bottles are reused up to 50 times. At the end of their usable life, these bottles are typically recycled and used to make new products. This closed-loop recycling system allows us to reduce our carbon footprint by ensuring that bottles do not end up in landfills.
Each refillable five-gallon bottle of our water saves around 1,500 0.5-liter single-serve plastic water bottles from landfills and oceans over the course of its 50-use lifetime.
We reduce environmental impact by using less
- Over the last 10 years, we have reduced the amount of plastic in our U.S.- and Canada-branded 0.5-liter polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles by more than 50% and the caps by 25%.
- We converted our 1-gallon high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottle to a lightweight model – reducing the resin gram weight from 63 grams to 56 grams – which lowered our plastic use by 2.8 million pounds.
- To reduce total weight and waste, we have made our plastic cups lighter, too. We also offer 100% biodegradable and compostable cup options to our customers to reduce the use of plastic cups.
- We are continuing to work with our suppliers to source environmentally friendly and reduced-plastic packaging options.
100% recyclable packaging
- All our packaging is 100% recyclable, including the bottles, caps and outer wrap. Plus, our 1- and 2.5-gallon bottles are shipped in reusable, recyclable corrugated boxes.
- In North America, we are also using 25% rHDPE -recycled content – in our new HDPE bottles. In California we have also begun using rPET bottles, made with 25% recycled content, and introduced this rPET initiative across the U.S. in 2020.
In alignment with Primo’s commitment to sustainability, our Aimia Foods division in the U.K. has made meaningful progress in reducing the amount of packaging in its operations and increasing the use of recycled materials to mitigate our carbon footprint.
In relation to initiatives surrounding packaging, our program includes:
Light weighting techniques – we were among the first companies in the UK to introduce lightweight pouches as an alternative to composites (tins) and jars. In 2019 we sold over 5 million pouches, which was an equivalent packaging weight saving of 145,000 kg when compared to jars. We have also applied light weighting techniques to jars and bottles. Aside from reducing the amount of packaging material used, light weighting techniques reduce C02 used in their production and in their road transport.
Incorporating the use of recycled material Using recycled materials helps to ensure old packaging gets re-claimed, reworked and re-used. This reduces the incidence of materials being sent to landfill or dis-regarded into the environment. Our use of recycled materials is growing rapidly. In January 2019, we completed the changeover from PET to 51% Recycled material PET (RPET) bottles. We are also the first company in our field to move to 30% Recycled material (RHDPE) in all of jars, and PET cups and lids are made with 50% RPET content. All of our packaging trays and outer cases are made using recycled papers while fine grade board (finished cardboard packets) are purchased from British pulp mills certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
Increasing the recyclability of packaging We are working expeditiously on industry leading developments in reducing the use of single use plastics and increasing the recyclability of containers, where plastics are required.
We eliminated single use plastic straws in our Shmoo product in January 2019. In May 2019, we introduced a range of products that cut down on plastic packaging: Coffee Beans – sold in a metal tin; Aluminium coffee pods (which contain no plastic at all) and Coffee One Cup Filter bags – again not made with plastic.
We have adopted OPRL1 labelling onto all new pieces of packaging. OPRL is used by 350 brands and retailers, is trusted by 3 out of 4 consumers and is ranked useful by 8 out 10 local authorities. It promotes easier waste separation and recycling by using standardized material and separation instructions on pack
Most (estimated 80% by weight) of our packaging is already fully recyclable:
100% of our jars
100% of our bottles and bottle carry handles
100% of our metal tins / plastic lids for metal tins
100% of our board / cases
In respect of the remaining 20% we are currently working on:
- Plans to move away from triple layer laminated material, which is used in bags, pouches, sticks (sometimes known as metalized polyester or foil). We are testing materials for shelf life and barrier properties to examine the feasibility of moving to mono layer barrier materials, which will make more packaging recyclable.
- Introduce alternatives to composite containers (such as catering format coffee or hot chocolate tins). We are making progress in this field and have identified a possible avenue towards a recyclable composite container, the implications and possibilities of which are being worked through.
Local Sourcing Packaging takes up a lot of space on our roads and it’s transportation to and from factories therefore produces C02 in the form for vehicle emissions. We prefer to use local suppliers where possible. For example:
- Jars – manufactured within 5 miles of our factory
- Tins – manufactured within 20 miles of our factory
- RPET bottles – manufactured on site
- Laminate / film – manufactured within 50 miles of our factory
1On-Pack Recycling Label
Other actions to reduce our impact on the environment are the following:
- Encouraging the disposal of cups into specific bins for recycling purposes
- Using hand-held devices to reduce paper use
- Using internet, emailing and electronic faxing and billing to reduce paper usage
- Recycling all our office paper, newspapers, electronic equipment and batteries
Our focus areas
Environmental, Social and Governance
