This blog has been started by Aqua Naida Limited of New Zealand, a water company involved in the export of New Zealand mineral water, PLA plant bottle supply, and bulk water systems management.
The purpose of this blog is to document, discuss, and give an honest opinion of the water industry, based on our day to day experiences dealing with plants, customers, service providers, manufacturers,governments and situations internationally.
Since establishment in 2010, we have stuck with the water industry against all odds, and it has taken us to Japan, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, the Middle East and Africa. We are now succesfully exporting New Zealand mineral water, PLA plant bottles from China, and taking part in bulk water shipping for the purpose of rebottling.
Each achievement has involved taking concepts from a desk and into the real world, pushing past boundaries, barriers, hidden obstacles and accross borders. The water industry is commonly perceived as lucrative and a 'no-brainer', however the latter couldn't be further from the truth.
PLA Plant bottles, do they sell?
This depends on who you ask, we recently had a meeting with the managing director a large bottled water plant in Dubai who supply the mass market in the Middle East. When we introduced the PLA plant bottle concept he simply stated that he would not want to drink from a bottle made from a material that cows eat...
It was a fair point, and perhaps the general feeling or perception that we need to overcome in Islamic markets. Our answer was that perhaps he or his customers prefer the taste of harmful polyfleurocarbons commonly found in water bottled with PET? This did make him think and I sensed some interest there, however not enough to push boundaries to a point where he would begin implementing PLA plant bottles into his operation.
Simple reason: price. The bottled water market is incredibally competitive, and the lowest price wins at the end of the day with his segment of the market. The cost of PLA plant bottle raw material is higher than PET, it may use less energy and create fewer emissions than PET production but it still requires time, land, and effort to grow and process corn into a bottle.
PLA Plant bottles, biodegradable?
PLA plant bottles are fast becoming a trend internationally, we have seen them being taken up by the likes of Coca Cola and Pepsi in Ja pan and other regions. With the growing requirement by consumers, governments and corporate responsibility watchdogs, many hotels and private establishments are making the switch to PLA plant bottles as part of their eco-responsibility policy.
Aqua Naida is actively entering this PLA plant market now, dealing with plants and suppliers in Malaysia, China, New Zealand and Japan. The initial challenge we faced was figuring out exactly what a PLA plant bottle is, and is it really as good as suppliers claim it is?
An example is the PLA plant bottles claim of being "100% biodegradable", thinking about this we considered how accurate this statement really is. If they are 100% biodegradable in six months as we were told, wont they biodegrade while still on shelves? The answer to this is that PLA plant bottles require a certain process to break down the bottle, at a certain temperature, in a certain environment.
In order to biodegrade in six months PLA plant bottles would need a structured system, with pickup, seperation, management, processing and investment. Therefore, yes we can claim that they are 100% biodegradable but we do make it clear to our customers that the structure to achieve this is not currently in place. Instead we are comfortable that the 100% plant material of PLA ensures that when they do make it landfills at least they will not be damaging the environment as they do break down over the years.
To be continued...
