Waterdrop® fruity little cubes are enjoyed by over 2 million people around the world, and their popularity has grown since we first launched them. Nevertheless, our vision and mission remain the same: to make hydration easy, delicious, and above all, sustainable for everyone.
With waterdrop® producing around 700,000 cubes of various flavours and varieties every day, it is more important than ever that sustainability is at the forefront of our decision-making. We spoke to COO Christoph Hermann (CH) and Chief Supply Chain Officer Sebastian Heinrich (SH) about how we adhere to our sustainability standards in production.
Let's start with the question we're asked most often: why did we choose plastic packaging when we want to create a world without plastic bottles?
SH: Of course, we tried to avoid using plastic wherever possible, but we realized early on that there was no other way to package our natural ingredients, such as extracts and vitamins, given that they need to be adequately protected from the effects of moisture and other factors. What we want to draw your attention to is that not all plastics are the same. Having considered all the options, we settled on polypropylene as our packaging, as it requires less energy to produce and is easier to recycle than other plastics. Each PP packaging can be recycled up to four times, making it the most environmentally friendly plastic.
CH: We are not yet plastic-free, but we are making steady progress toward reducing plastic bottles. Every 12-pack you buy reduces the amount of plastic you would have bought at another store. The amount of plastic used in one 12-pack is about the same as one plastic bottle cap (one plastic bottle cap = 10 waterdrop® packages). We are not completely plastic-free, but our drops are helping to reduce our plastic usage. We see this as the first step toward going plastic-free.
How do you ensure sustainability throughout your production process?
SH: Our micro drinks are made with sustainability in mind, so we use mostly renewable energy for our production and packaging processes. We recycle all unused resources, including waste from the production process. We also use highly CO2-efficient pellet heating in our production facilities and have systems in place to recover as much energy as possible. Our products are lightweight, so CO2 emissions during transportation are significantly lower than those of traditional plastic bottles.
Do you take any special considerations when it comes to ingredients?
CH: We try to use only natural materials whenever possible. Our products are also very lightweight, and we also carry out as much of the manufacturing process locally as possible, making them environmentally friendly products. One of the things we have been doing since the company was founded is drying fruits and plants locally. By harvesting and drying locally, we can reduce the weight of our raw materials by one-sixth and minimize the CO2 emissions from transportation.
Once the dried ingredients arrive at our facility, they are further aged by slowly boiling them at a very low temperature. This boiling process is then turned into a powder, resulting in a highly concentrated extract of the original ingredients, weighing just 1/28th of the original weight.
Will waterdrop ® still be packaged in plastic? Are you trying something different?
SH: We are constantly striving to improve our products, not only in taste but also in packaging. About two years ago, we started developing more sustainable packaging techniques. However, our drops are preservative-free and need to be completely protected from external influences, so it is difficult to seal them without using plastic. Not being completely sealed also means a shorter shelf life, which is also not environmentally friendly. Our standards for packaging are set very high, so it may take some time before we can introduce new packaging techniques.
What happens to the returned used packaging?
SH: We are currently developing new products using recycled packaging, but can't share too many details at the moment. More details to come!
