Packaging and recycling

Packaging allows us to bring our water to you, our consumer, preserving the natural spring water’s quality–but we believe it shouldn’t come at the expense of the environment. After all, our water couldn’t exist without a healthy environment.

Adopting a circular model

Mainstream bottling systems are still primarily linear—raw materials are used to make packaging, and after the product is consumed, the packaging is thrown away, adding new waste to the environment. Simply put: this model isn’t sustainable.

How will we do it? The way we always do and will continue to do: with a proactive, pioneering approach and a real, actionable plan. From overhauling our product lifecycle with new, innovative partners, to actively engaging the community, our sustainability initiatives will put us on track to reach our 2025 goal.

Because we’re committed to protecting and nourishing the health of our planet and its people, we are playing our part to accelerate the transition from a linear to a circular economy of sustainable packaging. Simply put, this means eliminating packaging we don’t need and innovating packaging where possible to ensure it can be recycled and safely reused again and again so it remains part of the circular economy and never becomes waste or pollution. In January 2018, we pledged to become a circular brand and transform our packaging to make all our plastic bottles* from 100% recycled PET by 2025.
*excludes label and cap

Building blocks to becoming circular

LINEAR ECONOMY

In a linear economy, packaging is formed from raw material, used once, then discarded as landfill waste. At evian, we're encouraging others to move away from this approach.

REUSE ECONOMY

In a reuse economy, packaging is formed from raw material, is recycled and reused, then discarded as landfill waste. At evian we are continually finding ways to use more recycled content.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

In a circular economy, once raw material is formed as packaging, it is recycled and reused continuously to remove it from the waste stream. At evian, our journey to get there starts with our pledge to make all our plastic bottles* from 100% recycled PET by 2025.
*excludes cap and label

Packaging

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle recycling has allowed our plastic bottles to be recyclable since its introduction in 1992, but we refuse to stop there. Between 25%-50% of each evian bottle* is made from recycled plastic (rPET), but we’re on a mission to make our plastic bottles* from 100% rPET by 2025.
*excludes label and cap

It’s an ambitious goal for sure, but we know we can do it with the help of breakthrough technology companies like Loop Industries. They’re pioneers in their own right and have developed a technology that enables large scale plastic bottle recycling, transforming all types of PET plastic waste into the high-quality our recycled bottles require.

As you can see, working together has provided shared value; thus, we’re on track to meet our sustainability goals and circular ambitions.
For more information on Loop Industries click here.

   
Photo credit: Hervé Schmelzle

Reducing plastic bottle waste in nature

It’s not just our bottles we’re hoping to keep out of the Earth’s environment, it’s other plastic waste too. That’s why in 2018-2019 we got on board with The Ocean Cleanup, a Dutch non-profit start-up that uses its technology to rid the oceans of plastic.

Together through our parent company Danone and sister brand, Aqua, we joined this project in 2018 as a research partner in Indonesia to analyze waste captured by The Interceptor™, an exciting new technology that aims to stop plastic waste from entering oceans by intercepting it at rivers. The Interceptor™, which is 100% solar powered and uses the natural forces of the current, aims to extract up to 50,000 kgs (just over 110,000 lbs) of plastic waste a day from the 1,000 most polluted rivers around the world. But what happens to the collected waste, you ask? We have helped analyze and categorize the collected debris to gain a better understanding of the challenges that caused it to enter rivers in the first place, so we can prevent it from ending up there going forward.

Working with local communities

We’re trying our best, but we can’t do it all alone. That’s where community comes in. We’re working with governments, recycling industry partners, and consumers all over the world to increase the collection and recycling rates of plastic bottles. For example, we’ve invested over $5 million in the Closed Loop Fund, which develops large-scale recycling infrastructure in the United States, and we’re always creating new ways to challenge everyone around the world to get involved in creating a circular economy through recycling. The more we work together to recycle, the closer we get to achieving our vision of producing bottles made from 100% recycled plastic.*
*excludes label and cap

Photo credit: Geraldine Aresteanu
Photo credit: Hervé Schmelzle

The future of packaging

When it comes to packaging innovations that benefit the environment and in turn, the people, good is never good enough. As we work to reimagine the packaging landscape, our efforts are in vain if these innovations aren’t accessible to or practical for people everywhere. That’s why we’re partnering with innovative brands like Soma and visionaries like Virgil Abloh to create forward-thinking yet practical designs for the future.

(re)new
www.evianrenew.com

The perfect combination of innovation and sustainability: evian (re)new is the first in-home evian water dispenser. Made of a collapsible 5L evian ‘bubble’ which incorporates new generation design thinking - the thin and light ‘bubble’ is 100% recyclable and made of a 100% recycled plastic (rPET) skin which contracts when the water is removed, taking a new shape after each use. Not to mention, it also uses 66% less plastic than a 1.5L bottle of evian.

“I’ve always been inspired by great design and how it can shape our lives, which is why I’m excited to see evian pushing the boundaries within the design of this disruptive new product that will transform the way we drink evian water at home.” -Virgil Abloh, evian Creative Advisor for Sustainable Innovation Design.

At the moment, evian (re)new water is only available to 200 specially selected customers in Paris and London who are helping evian test, optimize, and refine its design before expanding to other countries including the US. Once it’s up to our standards, we will look to roll-out evian (re)new more widely in the future. Stay tuned for updates on expanded availability in the US.

Soma

Just like us, Soma is a company that does good with water and for water. In fact, they’re a Certified B Corporation®, just like Danone Waters of America (our distribution company), meaning they’ve earned the right to be included in a group of businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. Not only do they make refillable glass bottles, they’re also continually looking for new ways to solve some of the world’s water challenges, like the fact that in 2017 nearly 785 million people still lacked a basic drinking water service. To put it simply: we complement each other. Together, we’re aiming for everyone to be more conscious in their consumption without having to sacrifice form or function.

The first product of our collaboration debuted in 2019 when we launched evian x Virgil Abloh refillable glass Soma water bottle, a new hydration accessory for people to enjoy water at home or on-the-go. Virgil’s “Rainbow Inside” evian reusable water bottle was designed to be the perfect on-the-move accessory that can be refilled time and time again. We look forward to a world where bottles made from rPET co-exist with stylish refillable options. Stay tuned to find out where you can find a evian Soma bottle near you.

Main achievements to date

OUR MISSION

2017

Incorporated an average of 25% rPET into
our everyday plastic bottle range and
removed plastic wrap surrounding bottles
with launch of our No Wrap Pack multipack

2019

Launched first refillable
bottle with Soma and our first
1.5L bottle with 50% rPET

2020

Launched Limited Edition
‘Activate Movement’ collection
and sustainability grant
with Virgil Abloh

2025

Aim to be a circular brand using 100%
rPET across our entire plastic* portfolio

*excludes cap and label

Seeking to reduce plastic bottle waste

Accelerating recycling initiatives