Water and Packaging - Sustainable Columbia

8/16/22, 3:12 PM Water and Packaging | Sustainable Columbia
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Water consumption and packaging on campus is a major topic of discussion. It should be simple to make the
most sustainable choice, right? Guess again! This page was created to educate consumers about the
complexity of packaging and to support stakeholders on campus in making informed decisions.
WHAT IS THE MOST SUSTAINABLE WAY TO CONSUME WATER?

Individuals and offices should aim to generate as little waste as possible while
taking advantage of New York City's access to clean, safe tap water. As you
reduce your impact or that of your department, here are some actions you can
take to help Columbia preserve the Earth's most precious resource.
Drink tap water. Transition away from single-use Public Areas: Check to see if a
New York City has some of the best tap plastics in your workspace. public filling station is possible.
water in the world! Stop ordering single-use plastic water The University has public filling stations
It comes from pristine reservoirs in the bottles for your office. Instead, in many public areas throughout
Catskill Mountains purchase reusable water bottles for campus.
At approximately one penny per gallon,
your team from Staples  or another Campus Operations continues to add
it is about 1,000 times less expensive University-approved vendor. new public water filling stations around
than bottled water. Empower staff to use their new campus each year. Follow Sustainable
Learn more about NYC water on reusable bottle to fill up from the tap, Columbia  on social media to be
the Department of Environmental and allocate a few extra bottles for notified when new public water filling
Protection (DEP) website.  guests. stations are added.
Learn more about alternatives to
plastic, such as glass or boxed water,
and their little-known impacts on the
environment.
Private areas: Research

alternative hydration options.
Assess and get a quote for a hydration
alternative that taps into the water line
of your workspace’s sink.
Contact the Facilities Services Center
 to learn more.
WATER PACKAGING: WHAT'S BEST? THERE IS NO RIGHT ANSWER.
Every manufactured beverage package has an impact, but educated consumers

make smarter choices for the environment and can even begin to influence the
market.
"Best" Depends on the Indicator

▻
By which measure is the material being assessed? Packaging can be measured for environmental impact through a variety of factors,
including associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, energy and/or petroleum used to manufacture it, pollution or other
externalities its production creates, and end-of-life (waste) considerations. Learn more about the different implications of each material
through the analysis on Better Meets Reality's website  . A life cycle assessment is required to fully analyze the impact of each
material, including the local conditions for waste management where the products are used and disposed of.
Life Cycle Assessment

▻
Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a useful technique for analyzing the environmental footprint of products like polyethylene terephthalate
(PET) beverage bottles at all stages in their life cycle − from the extraction of resources, through the production of materials, parts, and
the product itself, and to the use of the product and its disposal, either by reuse, recycling, or landfilling with or without energy
recovery (i.e., “from the cradle to the grave”) [source].
Market for Recyclables

▻
Unless you follow your recyclables through the entire process until they're made into new products, it’s impossible to say for certain
whether your materials are actually being recycled. But, logically, recyclables are more likely to get recycled if they have a dollar
value. Recyclables are considered a commodity: a good that can be sold. Cans, bottles and boxes can be broken down into raw
materials again and sold to manufacturers. And since consumers like products made from recycled materials, manufacturers buy more
recycled materials for their products. Like any market, the market for recyclables fluctuates and changes along with trends in supply
and demand [source  ].
THE HIDDEN COST OF SINGLE-USE CONTAINERS
The truth about plastic

Plastic manufacturing starts off with refining and processing of crude oil and natural gas, which relies on mining a non renewable resource.
By the time a bottle of water makes it to a store near you, it has a total carbon footprint equal to 82 grams (or 3 ounces) of carbon dioxide.
It takes more than three times as much water to produce a bottle of water than the contents of the container itself.
Plastic can be much more efficient to transport than glass because plastic is far lighter and you can get more plastic into the same packing
space as glass.
If single use plastic bottles are made of 100% recycled material the carbon footprint will be 30% less.
Estimates show that less than 9% of all plastic produced gets recycled.
With current technology, it’s less expensive for companies to produce new plastic water bottles than it is for them to recycle used bottles.
Plastic bottles and tops are some of the most inadequately disposed of items found on beaches, on land, in rivers and natural waterways,
and in the ocean.
Plastic bottles might take 70 to 450 years to decompose in landfill sites, compared to thousands of years for glass bottles, compared to 200
years for aluminum cans [source  ].
The truth about aluminum

Aluminum production is one of the most energy-intensive industries, which leads to GHG emissions if that energy comes from fossil fuels.
As demand for aluminum cans rises, more "virgin" aluminum must be produced, which leads to mining operations that can destroy
agricultural or forested land and impact the surrounding environment.
But making new can from a recycled can instead of raw material uses 5% of the energy and generates 5% of the emissions.
Generally quite lightweight, like plastic, which leads to a smaller transportation footprint.
As a commodity, aluminum brings a significantly higher price than glass or plastic, so much of the cost of a recycling program is actually
paid for by aluminum cans.
Today’s typical aluminum can contains 68% recycled content.
Aluminum generally has a low impact on the environment compared to a material like plastic when littered or dumped.
Aluminum is usually harder wearing than disposable plastic, very light, and doesn’t have the fragility issues of glass.
Old cans are less versatile than other scrap for recycling. The makers of airplane and car parts prefer not to use aluminum made from
recycled cans [source  ].
The truth about glass

Comes from mostly natural, abundant materials, but they may need to be quarried (ex. limestone), producing GHG emissions and other
environmental impacts.
Production requires fossil fuels for energy, using a furnace that burns at high temperatures.
Glass is usually heavier than plastic and metal bottles, so it can cost more (and produce more emissions) to ship. It may also require more
packaging in transport because of its potential to break.
However, glass bottles are 40% lighter today than they were 20 years ago, which means it takes less fuel and produces fewer emissions to
transport them.
Glass has an unlimited life and can be melted and recycled endlessly to make new glass products with no loss in quality.
But only about 33% of the glass disposed of in the U.S. gets recycled annually and the rest ends up in trash.
Some curbside recycling facilities are choosing not to deal with glass because of increased processing costs and because they don’t have
the equipment to clean glass properly.
Glass can take a long time to degrade in the open or in landfills – up to 4,000 years.
Broken glass can be a health and safety hazard for humans and animals [source  ].
The truth about boxed water and cartons

Paper is a renewable resource and widely recyclable.
If the company sources its paper from a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified producer, it is even more eco-friendly.
It is lightweight packaging, which requires less energy to ship than heavier material (the packaging versus product ratio is on average 7%
packaging to 93% product by weight) [source  ].
If the cartons are rectangular, it allows for close packing in transport, which further saves on GHG emissions from vehicles.
But not all boxed water is created equal. If it comes in an aseptic carton – like the kind used for coconut water, soy milk, and juice boxes – it
contains more than just paper, which makes it difficult to recycle.
Aseptic cartons are made with layers of paperboard, plastic, and aluminum.
In most cases, recycling plants strip the fiber from cartons and recycle it, but they do not necessarily recycle the plastic or aluminum
components.
If your local recycling program can't handle aseptic cartons, you can mail them to The Carton Council – but most people throw them in the
trash rather than make the effort [source  ].
ADDITIONAL RESEARCH
To learn more, check out our growing library of peer-reviewed scientific research
about this topic.
   
Toward Estimating Life cycle assessment of Life cycle assessment of An Analysis of Life Cycle
Displaced Primary non-alcoholic single-serve drinking water: Comparing Assessment in Packaging
Production from Recycling polyethylene terephthalate conventional water
beverage bottles in the treatment, reverse for Food & Beverage

state of California osmosis and mineral water Applications
in glass and plastic bottles
 
Environmental Life Cycle Life Cycle Assessment of
Assessment of Drinking Drinking Water Systems:
Water Alternatives and Bottle Water, Tap Water,
Consumer Beverage and Home/Office Delivery
Consumption in North Water
America
OTHER WAYS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Know your Recycling 101. Be mindful of unintended water Send us your research.
Just as important as what kinds of products use. If you are a student, faculty member, or
you purchase is what you do with them when You can conserve water on campus and at postdoc doing research at Columbia related
you’re done. Attend a recycling 101 session to home by taking shorter showers, reporting to beverage packaging recycling, reach out
be sure you know the basics and check out leaks, turning the faucet off when brushing to us at environment@columbia.edu
our video resources to learn more about your teeth, and using a thin stream (no bigger
recycling on campus. than your thumb) when hand-washing dishes.
You can use this water calculator  to
figure out your household's water use
footprint.
RELATED ARTICLES
Uncontained: The complex link between retail and packaging 

What recycling end market development looks like in 2019 
In the recycling world, why are some cartons such a problem? 
Is water in cans greener than water in bottles? No. 
Pepsi will start selling canned water — but is it any better than plastic water
bottles? 
How the plastic bottle went from miracle container to hated garbage 
Energy implications of bottled water 

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8/16/22, 3:12 PM Water and Packaging | Sustainable Columbia

Home » Topics » Water » Water and Packaging

WHAT IS THE MOST SUSTAINABLE WAY TO CONSUME WATER?

Private areas: Research

WATER PACKAGING: WHAT'S BEST? THERE IS NO RIGHT ANSWER.

Every manufactured beverage package has an impact, but educated consumers

"Best" Depends on the Indicator

Life Cycle Assessment

Market for Recyclables

THE HIDDEN COST OF SINGLE-USE CONTAINERS

The truth about plastic

The truth about aluminum

The truth about glass

The truth about boxed water and cartons

beverage bottles in the treatment, reverse for Food & Beverage

OTHER WAYS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Uncontained: The complex link between retail and packaging 

You might also like