Mount Lofty Springs Environmental policy

One of the major concerns today amongst consumers regarding plastic is its impact on the environment. This is relevant to the Springwater industry due to water being bottled and stored in plastic containers. There are two main types of plastic that water is bottled in, that being single-use plastic bottles and reusable plastic bottles. Most smaller quantities of water e.g. 1.5l, 600ml, 350ml etc are bottled using single-use pet plastic bottles. Here in South Australia, they are subject to a deposit scheme where a deposit (currently 10c) is paid to a marine dealer by the bottling company and then factored into the retail price of the bottle. Once consumed and the empty bottle is returned to a marine dealer/recycler a 10c refund is paid by the marine dealer back to the consumer. This scheme is designed to get as many used bottles back to the recyclers as possible where that unwanted plastic can be recycled into other usable products rather than end up in landfills or polluting our waterways and the environment in general. This has proven to be an effective measure in reducing the impact of single-use plastic bottles on our environment and generally reducing the amount of plastic building up in rubbish tips, waterways and on the roadside.

The other main type of plastic used in the water industry is re-usable bottles. These are mainly the larger bottles ranging from 11litres to 22litres in quantity. These bottles are for re-use and undergo a washing/sterilisation process each time they are refilled. However, the lifespan of these bottles varies and when deemed no longer good enough to refill these bottles are removed from circulation and retired.

So, what happens to these bottles when they are retired?

This can vary from company to company and from state to state depending on government regulations but sad to say many will end up in waste even though they are made from recyclable plastic and can be recycled.

At Mount Lofty Springs we combat this waste of plastic by the introduction of a deposit scheme on these bottles aiming to reduce the number of unused bottles polluting the environment. How does this scheme work?

At Mount Lofty Springs we charge a $10 deposit on our bottles to our customers. This deposit puts a value on that bottle encouraging customers to return no longer needed bottles back to Mount Lofty Springs to collect their refund. Mount Lofty Springs then have those bottles forwarded on to a recycling company where they are made into other products. We do the same for the returned caps they are also recycled into other products.

Other ways in which Mount Lofty Springs is reducing our carbon footprint are as follows.

All our single-use products such as our 1.5l, 600ml, 350ml, 350ml sparkling bottles are packaged in sustainable cardboard boxes rather than plastic wrap, we also supply only recyclable plastic cups and recyclable paper cups for drinking our premium spring water in. Everything we do at Mount Lofty Springs is done with the utmost care and respect for our community and our environment making sure our premium spring water can be supplied to as many people as possible and for as long as possible delivering an exceptional product for those that want “Clearly the best” premium spring water.