Nestlé Waters North America Inc. is increasing its use of recycled PET in its Arrowhead brand of bottled water by 38 percent.
Many of the company's most popular sized Arrowhead bottles, Nestlé Waters said, excluding the reusable 3- and 5-gallon containers, soon will contain up to 50 percent recycled PET as a result.
The company announced the news on Oct. 7, and positioned the move as a commitment to environmental stewardship in California.
“Thanks to California's strong commitment to recycling, there is high quality rPET available enabling us to increase our use of recycled material,” said Tim Brown, CEO and president of Nestlé Waters North America, in a statement.
CarbonLite Industries LLC, a producer of food-grade, post-consumer recycled PET in Riverside, Calif., will supply the recycled plastic, Nestlé said. That recycled PET will be collected in California for the most part. CarbonLite reprocesses 2 billion containers each year.
Nestlé Waters said the increased use of recycled PET will be in place by the end of next year.
Arrowhead is just one regional bottled water brand owned by Nestlé and is popular in the West.
Arrowhead expects to use 18 million pounds of recycled PET annually through the new commitment.