Nestlé Waters Canada unveils one of the lightest plastic bottles in the
Canadian beverage industry

At 9.16 grams, new Eco-Shape(R) container is one of the lightest in use

TOWNSHIP OF PUSLINCH, ON and HOPE, BC, Jan. 20 /CNW/ - Nestlé Waters Canada , Canada's marketshare-leading manufacturer and distributor of healthy beverage choices, today unveiled its next-generation Eco-Shape(R) 500 ml. bottle, one of the lightest such containers in the Canadian beverage industry and the Company's latest step in an ongoing commitment to reduce plastic consumption across its brand portfolio.

Weighing just 9.16 grams on average, this bottle contains 27 percent less plastic than its predecessor Eco-Shape bottle, which was introduced in 2007, and 60 percent less plastic than the Company's original, pre-Eco-Shape 500 ml. PET bottle, first introduced in 2000. The Eco-Shape plastic beverage container introduced in 2007 was among the first branded 500 ml. bottles in the beverage industry to be light-weighted.

The latest version of the Eco-Shape 500 ml. bottle is currently rolling out in the Company's marketshare-leading Pure Life and Montclair brands.

Nestlé Eco-Shape 500 ml. PET beverage containers are 100 percent recyclable and, thus, can avoid going to landfill by being recycled. When recycled, they become carpeting, automotive parts, toys and clothing, for example. Nestlé Waters Canada and its industry partners currently participate in funding Canada's municipal recycling infrastructure across the country -- infrastructure that also collects glass, paper and aluminum. The Company and its industry partners introduced Canada's first public spaces recycling program in Quebec in 2008; will introduce a similar program in Manitoba later this year and recently completed a successful pilot program in Ontario.

About 60 percent of plastic beverage containers were diverted from landfill across Canada last year, according to the provincial stewards responsible. The pilot public spaces recycling program in Quebec captured about 85 percent of recyclables, compared to 77 percent for the first phase of the Ontario pilot program in Sarnia.

Nestlé Waters Canada communicates the recycling capability of its packaging and the importance of recycling on its product labels, on its product cases, in its advertising and on its web site.

"With about 60 percent of Canadians drinking bottled water, reducing the amount of plastic in our bottles is one of the best ways to reduce our carbon footprint," said Gail Cosman , President, Nestlé Waters Canada . "Our first-generation Eco-Shape bottle was a significant step and is credited with reducing our plastics requirements by 4.59 million kilograms annually since 2007 and also reducing CO2 emissions by 8 percent annually. It has also reduced high pressure compressed air consumption by 40 percent, which has reduced our hydro-electricity consumption considerably. In the last five years, we have reduced CO2 emissions by 30 percent for every litre of water produced."

In addition to reducing plastic in its bottles, Nestlé Waters Canada continually reviews its secondary packaging materials for reduction opportunities. As a result, the new bottles also feature a cap weighing only one gram. The Company has also eliminated cardboard side walls from the majority of its 24-packs of bottled water, its number-one seller.

Nestlé Waters Canada also continues to make progress toward its goals of reducing its carbon footprint on additional fronts, including:

    
    -   It manufactures its own bottles at each of its bottling facilities,
        saving the energy required to ship truckloads of empty bottles into
        its plants. This avoids the need to truck 20,000 trailer loads of
        empty plastic bottles per year and saves 12,000,000 kilograms of
        greenhouse gas emissions annually;
    -   More than 80 percent of its products are shipped directly from its
        plants to retailers;
    -   The average shipping distance was 250 kilometres from source to
        shelf. That compares to 2,400 to 3,200 kilometres for fresh fruit and
        vegetables and most consumer packaged goods sold through grocers,
        according to Dan Murphy, an agricultural consultant from Washington
        state;
    -   It is using hydrogen fuel cell forklifts and hybrid sales vehicles;
    -   Its $15 million warehouse expansion at its Puslinch distribution
        centre in 2009 has reduced the number of trucks traveling to and from
        that facility by 1,500 per year;
    -   It has continuously reduced the size of its paper labels since 1998 -
        the current label is 35 percent smaller than the previous one. To
        date, this has resulted in a savings of about 20 million pounds of
        paper;
    -   It has reduced corrugate use by 88,000 tons over the last five years,
        which is equivalent to saving 528,000 trees. Another 15 percent
        reduction took place in 2009;
    -   It is committed to developing a next-generation bottle made entirely
        from recycled materials or renewable resources by 2020.
    

About Nestlé Waters Canada

Established in 1970, Nestlé Waters Canada is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nestlé Waters North America of Greenwich, Connecticut. With headquarters in the Township of Puslinch, bottling facilities in Hope, British Columbia, and Puslinch and distribution facilities in Chilliwack, British Columbia; Puslinch and Laval, Quebec , approximately 450 employees support a network of more than 145 retailers across Canada .

For further information: please visit our web site at www.nestle-waters.ca or contact: John B. Challinor II APR, Director, Corporate Affairs, Nestle Waters Canada, Telephone: [phone], Ext. 6441, Email: [email protected]; Jamie Jo Alton, National Public Relations, Telephone: [phone], Email: [email protected]