Stamford, Conn.-based Nestlé Waters North America (NWNA) announced that its resource Natural Spring Water is debuting its remodeled bottle made with 100 percent recycled PET (rPET), excluding the cap and labeling materials.

The remodeled resource bottle is available in 700-ml and 1-liter sizes. With its move to a 100 percent rPET bottle, resource hopes to focus attention on the uses of rPET, while reinforcing the importance of bottle-to-bottle recycling and increasing awareness and demand for recycled plastic, the company says.

"At resource, we believe that using recycled PET can help increase recycling rates by focusing attention on the value of recycling," said Debora Fillis Ryba, senior manager of sustainability at NWNA, in a statement. "Nestlé Waters has a strong history of sustainable innovation and product stewardship advocacy, and the 100 percent rPET bottle aims to continue that legacy by increasing awareness of closed-loop recycling."

The resource 100 percent rPET bottle launch is representative of NWNA’s long-standing mission to focus attention on the importance of recycling across its entire family of beverage brands, it says.

The company is committed to increasing plastic (PET) beverage bottle recycling rates to 60 percent by 2018. NWNA has been working closely with policy stakeholders nationally and locally to help reach this goal, it notes.

“Bottle-to-bottle recycling is one of the most effective ways to reduce landfill waste, reduce the carbon footprint, conserve natural resources and control the environmental impact of sourcing and creating new packaging,” said Leon Farahnik founder and chief executive officer of CarbonLITE Industries LLC, a producer of food-grade, post-consumer recycled PET, in a statement.

“Currently under one third of PET materials in the U.S. are recycled and brands such as resource, with their commitment to 100 percent rPET packaging, represent a pivotal shift in the industry to improve recycling standards among corporations and consumers,” Farahnik added.