Highland Spring boss: We have to do right thing on waste plastic
THE boss of Britain’s largest bottled water brand today called for greater efforts to cut plastic pollution.
Les Montgomery, chief executive of Highland Spring, said more infrastructure and public recycling was needed to enable soft drinks companies to create fully recycled bottles.
The company, which sold 302 million litres of bottled water last year, will start a trial of a 100 per cent recycled bottle in London on July 4.
Mr Montgomery said he hoped that by 2022, all soft drinks bottles would be made from at least 50 per cent recycled material. “It is ambitious, but there is momentum and it is achievable,” he said. “We have a vision that there will be infrastructure in place to meet the volumes that are collected, and keep them in the UK to be made back into bottles to be used again and again and again.”
He admitted that plastic waste had not been a “prime focus” for companies but said priorities had shifted in the past 10 years.
“We are not going to solve the global issue just by doing the right thing in the UK but we should be doing the right thing,” he added.
Waste plastic in oceans is a growing concern, with programmes such as BBC1’s Blue Planet II last year showing the devastation it causes. The vast majority of plastic in soft drinks bottles is not made from recycled material. Only 65 per cent of councils recycle plastic, because recycling plants do not get enough.
Highland Spring’s bottles are made of polyethylene terephthalate and can be recycled. Its new 500ml “eco bottle” will be sold in selected Sainsbury’s, with customers invited to give feedback. The bottles have a cloudier, greyer appearance, and customers are encouraged to recycle them.
Highland Spring and eight other soft drinks companies have set out a road map to eliminate plastic packaging waste from their supply chains. They aim to work towards eliminating all avoidable plastic wa s te in t h e i r s e c t o r we l l in advance of the Government’s 2042 target. The Co-op supermarket this year announced plans to switch all its own-brand water to 50 per cent recycled bottles.