Thirsty work leads to fewer plastic bottles

People wanting to satisfy a thirst will have to take along their own bottles to buy a sports drink if testing by a beverage company on a new form of eco-friendly vending machine works out.

Offering sports drinks without a plastic bottle is being trialed by Swire Coca-Cola Hong Kong, which launched its Bonaqua water stations last year. Now it plans to widen the drinks available from the vending machines.

It installed about 200 water dispensers at prime locations around the SAR, including on hiking trails and in malls.

Unlike traditional vending machines, the mineralized water available at these stations is not served in plastic bottles. But people can buy mineralized water and refill their own containers under the "Bring Your Own Bottle" concept.

It is estimated these water stations can cut up to 20 tonnes of plastic bottle usage in 12 months.

Executive director Neil Waters said Swire Coca-Cola will be installing more such stations and hinted at the possibility of using the machines for other beverages.

"This is a long-term part of our water and sustainability strategy," he added.

Swire Coca-Cola HK launched its "Tap, Return & Earn" beverage bottle redemption scheme in September to push recycling.

People take used plastic bottles to reverse vending machines and collect a cash rebate of 20 HK cents via Octopus for each one.

There are 10 return machines presently sited in malls, and they have collected more than 660,000 bottles while the company has outlaid about HK$132,000 on rebates.

Apart from setting up water dispensers and return machines, the company has invested in upgraded plastic bottles to reduce the quantity of waste going to landfills.

It also aims to switch the manufacturing process from hot sterilization to aseptic packaging.

Such packaging and associated recycling of bottles reduces by 16 percent the quantity of used bottles.

Swire Coca-Cola has since 2010 reduced by 39 percent the plastic used in Bonaqua water bottles, while there is 46 percent less plastic in bottle caps.

Containers of carbonated and other still drinks have also been reduced by 12 percent in the past decade.

In late September, Swire Coca-Cola announced it had invested HK$260 million in a joint venture with ALBA Group Asia and Baguio Waste Management to build the first plastics recycling facility in Tuen Mun.

Set to open in the third quarter this year, it will be able to process and recycle 35,000 tonnes annually.