The weight of 16.9-ounce, single-serve PET water bottles dropped by nearly 33 percent between 2000 and 2008, a newly released industry study said.
The International Bottled Water Association of Alexandria, Va., commissioned the study from New York-based consultancy Beverage Marketing Corp., IBWA said in a Feb. 18 news release.
According to the final report:
* The average PET bottled-water container weighed about 19 grams in 2000; by 2008, that declined to about 13 grams.
* During the eight-year period, the bottled-water industry saved more than 1.3 billion pounds of PET through container lightweighting.
* In 2008, the industry saved 445 million pounds of PET by reducing bottle weights.
IBWA President and CEO Joseph Doss credited PET processors with working hard to maintain structural integrity of the lighter bottles.
“The facts speak for themselves,” Doss added. “This is one way we as a nation can put a meaningful dent in post-consumer disposal of plastic that is not recycled.”
Since 2008, some IBWA members have reported further declines in bottle gram weight, with some bottled-water containers on store shelves now weighing less than 10 grams.
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