Rawlings Launches Most Ethical Glass Bottle In The UK

Rawlings, the leading independent glass packaging specialist, with a strong heritage and reputation for sustainable quality, was selected by social enterprise Belu to deliver on the challenge of developing the lightest weight glass bottle for mineral water in the UK.

Through new techniques and innovation, Rawlings, in partnership with sustainability focused glass manufacturer OI, were able to reduce the weight of the previous lightweight 750ml and 330ml bottles both by 20g.  This entered new ground in terms of manufacturing and light-weighting for OI.

To translate this weight saving into potential environmental gains, Belu have been able to:

• Save 850,000 kg of glass annually, equivalent to  2.1 million wine bottles and
• Reduce their carbon emissions by 11%*, the equivalent to saving the same amount of carbon associated with 7,000 nights in an average sized UK hotel.

The product branded ‘Ethical Glass’ however is not being retained exclusively for Belu - it is also being made available to other mineral water companies in a bid to lower the industry’s carbon footprint. In doing so, Rawlings and Belu give companies the opportunity to make a positive environmental impact, without the capital costs of developing their own bottle, ultimately acting as a catalyst that will make the industry more environmentally stable in a shorter time frame.

In addition to the bottle’s impressive environmental credentials, a royalty of up to 0.3 pence will be donated to WaterAid for each bottle purchased from the manufacturer. Royalty contributions through bottle purchases made in one year by the entire group of Belu suppliers is expected to amount to a donation of £32,500 to the clean water charity, equivalent to changing the lives of 2,000 people currently living without clean water and sanitation.

Already the most sustainable packaging option available, due to being made from natural materials, glass can also be recycled endlessly, with recycled content also being used in the production of ‘Ethical Glass’. Glass has remained a favourite in the beverage industry, as it is the only packaging option that can protect the freshness and flavour of products without any additional layers of material. With the arrival of this ground breaking bottle on the open market, the benefits of choosing glass will only become more attractive.

Tom Wood, Managing Director of Rawlings believes;
“Ethical Glass is an initiative with the aim of improving the environmental impact of the glass packaging industry. For Rawlings, the collaboration with Belu was a successful meeting of minds and the first outcome is this ground breaking bottle. The adoption of Ethical Glass will make a difference and improve our environment.”

Karen Lynch CEO of Belu Water Ltd comments;
“We have found Rawlings to be wonderful collaborators. Inspired by our ideals, their expertise and support have made this ‘Ethical Glass’ vision a reality.  This partnership has demonstrated how new product development can be extremely successful when all parties are truly motivated and engaged by a clearly defined goal.”