Shropshire Star

Bottled water convenient for both hydration and recycling

I was disappointed to read your article, July 3 'Music lovers won't be able to buy water in plastic bottles'. From your article, it's my understanding that during August Bank Holiday weekend bottled water won't be sold due to the amount of waste being sent to landfill.

Published

My first question is why on earth would anyone send a plastic bottle to landfill when it is 100 per cent recyclable and can return as another bottle?

Healthy hydration is hugely important, especially at hot, crowded, outdoor events. The convenience of naturally sourced bottled water should remain a consumer choice alongside other, far less healthy, bottled beverages.

Evidence supports plastic bottles as the best packaging solution for water and other beverages as it is lightweight, safe, 100 per cent recyclable and can be made from recyclable content; it is therefore completely sustainable, providing a closed loop circular economy.

In fact, it ticks every box for sustainability required by the Government. Here in Harrogate our PET bottles are made with more than 50 per cent recycled content, restricted only by availability - this could be greater if the nation recycled more. PET plastic uses less energy and produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions than any other alternative packaging solution.

Upon reflection, perhaps the most sensible thing that should happen at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival is to encourage people to remain hydrated through the convenience of bottled water and to ensure the adequate provision of recycling stations so that people understand that their bottles shall be recycled and return as a new bottle next time around.

It is not an inevitability that all plastic waste has to go to landfill. We should be encouraging being 'Plastic Responsibly' as a long-term solution which has been recognised on by the Government as an environmentally sustainable solution, hence ongoing consultation towards a national Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).

James Cain OBE, Chief executive, Harrogate Water Brands