Rawlings and Belu develop lightest weight glass mineral water bottle

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Bristol’s independent glass packaging manufacturer Rawlings has worked with ethical mineral water firm Belu to develop the UK’s lightest glass mineral water bottle.

Through new techniques and innovation, Rawlings, in partnership with sustainably focused glass manufacturer OI, were able to reduce the weight of both the previous lightweight 750ml and 330ml bottles by a further 20g.

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This means Belu are able to save 850,000kg of glass annually, which is equivalent to 2.1 million wine bottles and reduce its carbon emissions by 11 per cent.

The product is branded as ‘ethical glass’ and is not being retained exclusively for Belu, but is being made available to other mineral water companies.

A royalty of 0.3p per bottle will be donated to charity WaterAid, which is expected to amount to £32,500 per year.

Rawlings managing director Tom Wood said: “Ethical glass is an initiative with the aim of improving the environmental impact of the glass packaging industry. For Rawlings, the collaboration with Belu was a successful meeting of minds and the first outcome is this groundbreaking bottle. The adoption of ethical glass will make a difference and improve our environment.”

Belu Water chief executive Karen Lynch added: “We have found Rawlings to be wonderful collaborators. Inspired by our ideals, their expertise and support have made this ethical glass vision a reality.

“This partnership has demonstrated how new product development can be extremely successful when all parties are truly motivated and engaged by a clearly defined goal.”