Nestlé Waters North America has signed an important rPET agreement with CarbonLITE, its Los Angeles supplier, to purchase recycled PET plastic (rPET) from CarbonLITE.
The new contract is based on Nestlé's existing partnership with CarbonLITE. As one of the largest producers of rPET for food-grade recycled plastics, further cooperation with Nestlé will prompt Nestlé Water North America to further expand the use of recycled materials in the packaging field.
Nestlé currently sources rPET materials from its CarbonLITE plants in California and Texas.
Under the new contract, CarbonLITE will build a third plant in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania.
"We are excited about CarbonLITE's presence in a region that is critical to our production operations," said Bill Trackim, vice president and head of supply chain and procurement for Nestle Water North America. "The ability to source rPET materials in the region will help us better support regional economic development, while promoting the sustainable development of the environment through the use of renewable and recyclable packaging materials."
CarbonLITE expects that the new plant will be fully operational in early 2020, when more than 2 billion old bottles can be recycled each year. The new 200,000-square-foot recycling plant is expected to save 60,000 tons of carbon annually through the use of recycled materials and will produce 80 million pounds of food-grade rPET pellets annually.
"Nestle Water will continue to be a leader in sustainable development actions," said Carbononite chairman Leon Farahnik. "In the past 7 years, we are proud to grow with them and are happy to set up a factory in Pennsylvania."
Nestle Water has two bottling bases in the Lehigh Valley using recycled plastic, including Nestle Pure Water Life and Deer Park.
Since 2011, Nestlé has continuously expanded the use of rPET packaging, and launched a 700ml Nestle Pure Life bottle made of 100% rPET in February 2018.