Bottle Up claims to provide the first fully reusable, pre-filled, plant-based water bottle sold in the UK and aims to become a renewable and recyclable alternative to single-use plastic bottles.
In the UK, it has been reported that over 7.7 billion single-use plastic water bottles are consumed each year. Over half the plastic waste that ends up in the Thames has been attributed to plastic water bottles.
Founded in Amsterdam in 2019, Bottle Up aims to combat the single-use plastic crisis across the globe. It operates in the city of Wolverhampton and turns sugar cane from Brazilian grasslands – a crop said to require almost no fertilizer or additional irrigation – into BPA-free, reusable water bottles.
These are pre-filled with spring water from Elmhurst in a bid to minimize their carbon impact. Since they are dishwasher-safe, they can be cleaned at home for continued reuse.
Bottle Up offers bottles in three different colours, designed to offer distinct ‘personality’ and maintain durability throughout its life cycle. Partnerships with chains such as Accor – owner of hotels Ibis, Mercure, Sofitel, and more – are envisioned to bring hospitality venues closer to adopting reuse.
The bottles are currently available to buy via Morrisons, Ocado, WH Smith, The Co-op, BP, Whole Foods, and Amazon. Bottle Up reports that it has sold its 50,000th bottle with BP and is currently the top-selling brand on Amazon under the still water category.
The news comes after ALPLA and TÖNISSTEINER unveiled a reusable and recyclable PET bottle for mineral water last October. It is designed to reduce both weight and carbon consumption compared to single-use alternatives, and is apparently made entirely from post-consumer recycled material.
In a similar development, air up launched a new line of reusable bottles made from Eastman Tritan Renew – constituting 50% ISCC-certified recycled content sourced from a molecular recycling technology – towards the end of 2023.
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