Exploring refillable water systems

Sarah Goldsmith | Sustainability, Company, Events | Articles

The Zenith UK Water Drinks Conference took place at the Congress Centre in London on March 19th, 2024. This forum serves as the ultimate platform within the industry for obtaining updates and insights into the UK drinking water market, as well as exploring innovations and emerging brands and concepts in the field. This year’s conference boasted a lineup of leading producers, experts, and innovators, including notable names such as Cano Water, Dash, and Liquid Death. Our own Chief Executive Officer, Dan Lyon, delivered a compelling session at the event focusing on refillable water systems and emphasising our commitment to sustainability. Additionally, the conference provided a forum for discussions on sustainable practices and recycling initiatives such as Deposit Return Schemes (DRS).

Canned water makes waves in refreshment revolution

Water being produced in cans represents a significant stride towards reducing the consumption of single-use plastic bottles while promoting hydration. This innovative approach not only addresses environmental concerns by minimising plastic waste but also encourages healthier hydration habits among consumers. By packaging water in cans, companies contribute to the global effort to combat plastic pollution while offering a convenient and sustainable alternative. This initiative resonates with environmentally conscious individuals who seek products aligned with their values of sustainability.

During the event, Josh White shared how witnessing the vast number of discarded plastic bottles littering the shores during a holiday in Thailand a few years ago served as the catalyst for him and two friends to launch Cano Water. This innovative venture specialises in packaging water in aluminium cans, offering a fully recyclable and reusable alternative to plastic bottles.

Dash also offers water packaged in cans as part of their commitment to reducing reliance on single-use plastic. Additionally, they promote the use of imperfect or “wonky” fruits to infuse flavour into their range of sparkling flavoured drinks.

Liquid Death, has come from left field to encourage water hydration through very bold and unconventional marketing campaigns, ‘murder your thirst’.

They also contain water within a can rather than plastic and champion the cause ‘death to plastic’.

Adding flavour and functionality to water

A lot of producers at the event spoke of enhancing water with flavours which is rapidly gaining popularity due to its ability to provide consumers with a refreshing and customisable hydration experience. With an increasing emphasis on health and wellness, flavoured water offers an enticing alternative to sugary sodas and artificially flavoured drinks. Infusing water with natural flavours such as fruit extracts, like Dash has done with their wonky fruits, and SYPS has done with their range of flavours, consumers can enjoy the benefits of hydration along with a burst of taste without added sugars or calories.

Functional water has been gaining immense popularity owing to its array of health benefits and targeted functionalities. Unlike traditional water, functional water is enhanced with added nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and other bioactive compounds, offering consumers a convenient way to boost their overall health and well-being. During the conference, OHMG water emphasised the significance of magnesium in our diets and highlighted the relaxation properties associated with it. As a result, they have incorporated 60mg of magnesium into each of their canned water drinks. Trinsic Collagen, highlighted the benefits of their alkaline water product which has collogen added to it and which they advise has numerous health benefits for bones, tissue and muscle.

Opting for refillable water systems to reduce plastic waste

Our CEO Dan Lyon spoke at the event on the future of refillable water options and the move away from single use plastic.

Our integrated water dispensers can deliver water high quality drinking water in the most sustainable way, with the benefit of taste, filtration and the option of additional enhancements including, flavour, vitamins and caffeine.

Dan emphasised how each dispenser saves around 36,000 plastic bottles for a truly sustainable solution.

Did you know 77% of UK shoppers now take a refillable drinking bottle when they go out (Kantar 2022) This is evidence of consumer demand for refillable water solutions as they look towards reducing their own single-use plastic footprint.

With the filtration system on our drinking water dispensers, we can remove plastic particles and deliver hygienic and beautiful tasting water.

Our dispensers deliver chilled water at the touch of a button and can be re-used and re-filled all day long. Dan, highlighted how we’re proud at Borg & Overström, to offer a very different hydration solution to cans and single use plastic bottles and whilst we may never be able to completely move away from plastic in today’s society, our refillable solution goes a long way for both the environment as a whole and for people’s individual hydration goals.

Recycling incentive through DRS

DRS (Deposit Return Scheme) were a hot topic during the conference as the single serve water market looks for ways to address mounting plastic and single use bottle pollution. While the date of introduction is still to be confirmed it is clear that a DRS solution will be implemented in UK the coming years. The DRS scheme in Ireland went live at the beginning of February. It will be interesting to see the success of the scheme in Ireland and how this will co-exist with existing kerb-side pickup recycling we have in the UK. An argument was made for implementing a Digital DRS which will allow for people to scan a serialised code on their container with their smart phone to redeem the financial deposit when returning their empty container with the scheme. Managing the quality of materials entering into the market coupled with a returns scheme will encourage responsible collection of used drinks vessels, allowing for improved collection and recycling, supporting the UK’s wider sustainability goals.

For more information about our refillable water system solutions, contact our sales team.