This World Earth Day, SodaStream has announced its ambitious goal to reduce single-use plastic waste for the next five years.
Through expansion of the business, SodaStream plans to save the use of nearly 67 billion bottles worldwide by 2025, more than 3 billion of which will be saved in Australia.
So far, up until 2019, the SodaStream solution has contributed to the avoidance of about 5 billion single-use plastic bottles globally. This is the direct result of SodaStream’s unique and innovative product model; just one SodaStream bottle saves thousands of single-use plastic bottles ending up in the environment or landfill. Therefore, providing consumers with a sustainable alternative to making sparkling water and carbonated drinks at home.
Additionally, the company has also pledged to switch the packaging of all its flavours from plastic to metal bottles in early 2021, meaning over the next five years a further 200 million single-use plastic bottles will be avoided around the world.
“We’re proud to be a business that constantly strives to do the right thing by the planet and those who live here. So making the switch from plastic to metal packaging felt like a no brainer and will help Australians leave the world a better place for future generations to come,” commented SodaStream Australia managing director, Mark Fenton.
The switch from plastic to metal flavour packaging bottles is expected to save hundreds of millions of disposable plastic bottles in the years to come. SodaStream flavours are purchased by consumers all over the world and enable the preparation of carbonated drinks in a variety of flavours at home. Today, the SodaStream factory in Israel produces over 30 million bottles of flavour per annum, and this number is growing at double digits every year.
Rationale for making the switch:
When it comes to recycling, metal is the easiest and most efficient option currently available in the world for recycling and does not require “market education” for waste separation. According to the Australian National Waste Report**, 2016-17 data shows, 103 kg per capita of plastic waste was generated, but just 12% was recycled and 87 per cent of this was sent to landfill. Comparatively, about 226 kg per capita, of metal waste was generated in Australia, which had a recycling rate of 90 per cent, higher than any other material category.
A plea to all Australians:
As a special tribute to World Earth Day in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, SodaStream has released an emotive video that states the importance of caring for our planet, even in these complicated times and while a large part of society is at home. The video delivers a social and environmental message: “We need to stay at home to overcome this, and once we do, let’s make sure we take better care of the planet – our home.”
The message is one that resonates well with local not-for-profit environmental conservation organisation, Clean Up Australia:
“Being asked to stay indoors is a valuable check on our habits and a reminder that we all need to step up and work together to reduce our waste. Preserving our environment.is a year-round effort. A cleaner, healthier and more sustainable future can easily start at home, with you,” commented Clean Up Australia managing director Terrie-Ann Johnson.
“We created this video to shine a light on the importance of taking care of our shared home, the planet we live on, and throughout these challenging times ahead, hope to help consumers take the necessary steps needed to maintain our environment.”
Additional Green commitments:
SodaStream is also investing in renewable energies this year, with solar panels placed on the roof of the main factory, already providing five per cent of the company’s energy needs, with the long-term goal being to reach 20 per cent by 2021. SodaStream also has plans to shift to natural gas and use the co-generation technology to run on clean energy, free from fossil fuels, as well as making its factory almost 100 per cent power independent by 2024.
In light of the current situation with COVID-19 spreading around the world, SodaStream have also made a donation to international non-governmental organisation, WaterAid, which focuses on water, sanitation and hygiene with a strong push for education globally around hand washing to stop the spread of illness.
