Environmental Impact of Manufacturing One 18.5 Litre Plastic Bottle

More and more, when a large organization wants to review their use of plastic bottled water, we get asked to provide comments about the difference in cost, quality water and potential reduction of carbon emissions and other sustainability benefits.

The production of plastic bottles, including the commonly used 18.5-litre size, involves significant environmental resources. Here are the estimated impacts for one bottle:

1. Plastic Waste
Plastic Waste Generated: Approximately 0.5 kg of plastic waste for each bottle produced.

2. CO2 Emissions
CO2 Emissions: About 1.5 kg of CO2 emissions are generated during the manufacturing process of one 18.5-litre plastic bottle.

3. Barrels of Oil Equivalent
Barrels of Oil Equivalent: The production of one plastic bottle can consume around 0.02 barrels of oil equivalent.

4. Litres of Water
Litres of Water Used: Approximately 1.5 litres of water are required in the manufacturing process of one bottle.

Let’s assume your business is going through 1,000 18.5 litre bottles a year (and that’s not a lot from what we see in our proposals). That means,
500 kg of plastic waste
1,500 kg of CO2 Emissions
20 barrels of oil
1,500 Litres of Water…

is consumed just for the plastic. Obviously, if your organization is using smaller containers in volume, the picture is worse for the environment.

Aren’t the bottles re-used? Yes. Global studies say, bottles are re-used 3-5 times on average. Then they go to either recycling or land fill or burning.

Yay recycling, but let’s look at some of those numbers globally in terms of percentage of plastic actually recycled, no matter how great the intentions everyone has.
UAE 15-20%
India 60%
Germany 50%
Maldives 10-15%
US and Canada 9% (that’s a shocker).

(Here’s a challenge. Share this info with your kids, grandkids and see what they think.)

Bottom line, the quality of water from air is always going to be superior, the use of plastic in water from air is ZERO. That leaves the economic argument. Give us your data and we will show you the economic, health and sustainability benefits of an AWG solution.