Packaging and recycling company ALPLA has collaborated with German mineral water manufacturer Privatbrunnen Tönissteiner Sprudel to develop a new reusable bottle made entirely using recycled material.
ALPLA said that the new bottle is made using post-consumer recycled material, with the exception of the closure and label.
The recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) bottle is available in one-litre packs across various retail outlets with immediate effect.
The rPET material used for manufacturing these Tönissteiner bottles is produced and provided by ALPLArecycling, a new brand launched by ALPLA Group.
The rPET bottle can be recycled completely at the end of its life cycle, which can be determined with the help of laser markings to calculate the number of cycles each bottle undergoes.
After reaching the end of their respective life cycles, the bottles will be converted once more into rPET material at ALPLArecycling’s facility. This rPET material can then be reused again for new bottles.
ALPLA Germany managing director Georg Pescher said: “We at ALPLA already deliver in this regard with a circular economy based on the bottle-to-bottle principle, weight optimisation 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 rPET.”
Being lightweight in nature, the new bottle has been developed to provide logistical advantages while minimising overall carbon consumption.
The design of these rPET bottles can fit in with Tönissteiner’s existing 12-bottle crates, ALPLA added.
This in particular signifies that up to 160 crates comprising more than 1,920 bottles can be transported per lorry load.
ALPA anticipates that the optimised return of empty Tönissteiner rPET and glass bottles on a pallet of standardised crates will help accelerate the cycle and reduce the overall bottle-sorting process required by wholesalers and retailers.
Tönissteiner managing director Hermann-Josef Hoppe said: “Tönissteiner stands for the sustainable use of resources. In ALPLA, we have found an innovative partner for the introduction of our first own reusable rPET bottle.
“The climate-friendly bottle has been perfectly tailored to our sorting, bottling and transport processes.”
