GERMANY – ALPLA, a packaging and recycling specialist, has partnered with Privatbrunnen TÖNISSTEINER Sprudel, a mineral water company, to create a groundbreaking reusable PET bottle made entirely from recycled materials.
This innovative 1-liter bottle, designed for mineral water, not only reduces carbon emissions but also provides logistical benefits thanks to its lightweight design. It is now readily available at retail locations.
Following nearly one year of development, Alpla announces the launch of its reusable rPET bottle. This innovative bottle is made entirely out of post-consumer recycled material, with the exception of the label and closure. It can be fully recycled at the end of its life cycle. The rPET is produced and provided by Alpla Recycling.
“The packaging of the future is sustainable, light and safe,” says Georg Pescher, managing director at Alpla Germany.
“At Alpla, we are already delivering in this regard with a circular economy approach based on the bottle-to-bottle principle, weight optimization, and systematic design for recycling.
“Working with Tönissteiner, we have brought all of these approaches together to create a new reusable solution made entirely of recycled PET (rPET).”
The bottle was designed to fit with Tönissteiner’s existing 12-bottle crates. Up to 160 crates containing 1,920 bottles can be transported in one load, reducing the bottle sorting work of wholesalers and retailers, Alpla says.
According to the company, end-of-life bottles can be turned into rPET at Alpla Recycling plants and then recycled into new bottles.
Laser markings indicate the number of cycles a bottle has been through and complement the quality controls during the refilling stage.
Tönissteiner and Alpla have announced that they are establishing a bottle-to-bottle loop using their supply of reusable rPET bottles.
Hermann-Josef Hoppe, managing director at Tönissteiner, stated, “Tönissteiner stands for the sustainable use of resources.
“In Alpla, we have found an innovative partner for the introduction of our first reusable rPET bottle. The climate-friendly bottle has been perfectly tailored to our sorting, bottling and transport processes.”
The new eco-friendly bottle adds to the growing list of Alpla’s sustainable initiatives to promote a closed-loop economy.
In July, the Austrian-based company launched a new brand called ALPLArecycling to consolidate all its activities and businesses.
ALPLA has nearly 1,100 employees across its business and currently has four joint ventures with regional partners.
The company aims to process a minimum of 25% post-consumer recycled (PCR) material by 2025.
