Mineral water brand Evian (Évian-les-Bains / France; www.evian.com) has launched a label-free water bottle made entirely of recycled PET. The group, owned by French multinational Danone (Paris; www.danone.com), said the move was part of a long-term plan announced two years ago to cease using virgin plastics in the manufacture of its water bottles by 2025 (see Plasteurope.com of 23.01.2018).

The 400 ml bottle, which is now available in France at select hotels and restaurants, has taken almost two years to develop and features an engraved logo. The cap is not made of recyclate but of HDPE and OPP that the company says is recyclable. It will be rolled out in Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam in September.

Shweta Harit, Evian’s global brand VP, said the announcement “positions Evian as a pioneer in sustainable design solutions, with the bottle made from 100% recycled materials and label-free, acting as tangible proof of our commitment to becoming a fully circular brand by 2025.” Evian has teamed up with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF, Cowes / UK; www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org) and Canadian sustainability firm Loop Industries (Terrebonne, Québec; www.loopindustries.com) to pioneer the development of technology for a continuous loop for large-scale recycling of PET plastics waste.

In April 2020, Evian announced it had become globally carbon-neutral. The company said this was the result of increasing the light-weighting of its packaging, the increased use of recycled plastics and the use of renewable energy in its production processes.