Facts That Will Astound You

How much more does bottled water cost than tap water? Is it really all that “healthy”? These are facts from the University of Nottingham website.

Britain consumes 3bn litres of bottled water per year.

Typically bottled water retails at up to 500 times more than the price of tap water.

The bottled water market is the fastest growing drinks market in the world.

The UK bottled water industry is worth ~£2bn per year

For 2007 it is estimated that 13bn plastic bottles of water were sold in the UK of which only 3bn were recycled

162g of oil and seven litres of water are required to manufacture a single one litre volume disposable PET bottle and this amounts to the release of 100g of carbon dioxide (CO2) a major greenhouse gas (GHG)

Some research has claimed that drinking ‘a bottle’ of water has the same impact on the environment as driving ‘a car’ for one kilometre

50% of bottled water contains added minerals and salts. This does not mean that it is more ‘healthy’

Recycling rates though improving are still low in the UK as a whole. Today nearly 35% of PET plastic bottles in household waste streams are now collected for recycling. In 2001 it was 3%. Hence the majority of used water bottles are disposed of to landfill, which is not sustainable. Fewer are incinerated with some energy being recovered. Many ’discarded’ bottles become environmental pollution and can be found in hedgerows, parks, streams and rivers. Via rivers they can be transported to the open seas.

 

We really hope you think this is interesting and make you reconsider bottled water.