The Sociedade da Água de Monchique will soon make available a bottle of mineral water entirely produced with recycled PET (rPET).
In a press release, Água Monchique explains that "for every million bottles produced, around 30 thousand kilos of virgin PET will no longer be consumed, which represents an estimated annual savings of approximately 100 tons of virgin PET".
The latest Monchique novelty is part of the “ambitious commitment made by the company to reduce its environmental footprint and which led it, for example, to anticipate, as early as 2020, the targets set by the EU for 2030 regarding the integration of 30% of recycled PET in their packaging'.
In its characteristic burgundy hue, the brand's identifying color, 100% Monchique Sport manufactured from totally recycled plastic, will reach large surfaces and some bio and diet stores, ending a process that involved a lot of research and technology and that strengthens the circular economy .
Água Monchique's commitment to environmental sustainability led the company to create the 100% Monchique brand, «a symbol of the challenges that move us and a call for an urgent awakening to more conscious consumption, contributing to the systemic change that is urgently needed to operate. », highlights Vítor Hugo Gonçalves, CEO of Sociedade da Água de Monchique.
The plastic that surrounds the packs of the new 100% Monchique Sport also comes from 100% recycled plastic. The Sociedade da Água de Monchique will soon make available a version in a cardboard box of environmentally certified origin.
The design of the bottle, as well as the identity of the new 100% Monchique brand, was developed by Upstairs Design Studio. Resilux, SA, a company specialized in PET preforms, was the selected partner for the development of the current rPET solution.
«More than new packaging, 100% Monchique Sport reflects the transformation that the company has been operating over the last few years. We want consumers to continue to recognize and trust Monchique and its ability to provide the market with increasingly innovative solutions, based on a circular economy and the use of sustainable materials. This is the time to intensify our environmental responsibility policies and actions», reaffirms Vítor Hugo Gonçalves.
The reorganization of the entire production structure operated at the Água Monchique plant over the past few years had as its essential pillar the reduction of the company's ecological footprint. The various environmental sustainability solutions implemented, despite the doubling of the unit's production capacity, allow for a reduction of around 15% in energy consumption,
The reduction and reuse of plastic “is another of Monchique's main concerns. Eliminating the consumption of shrinkable plastic in the 5 liter tare allows the company to stop sending to the market around 25 tons of packaging plastic per year».
Another of the changes is related to the reduction of more than 16% in the weight of the carboy, which allows saving around 100 tons of PET per year.
"Another relevant factor in this search for environmental balance is the fact that the remaining Monchique tares already incorporate 30% of recycled PET in their production, fulfilling in advance the European targets outlined for 2030."
The commitment to sustainability of Sociedade da Água de Monchique also involved the return of Monchique in glass.
Água Monchique was also the first mineral water brand to make available an innovative app – “myMonchique” – which highlights the system of Gamification encouraging recycling and in which consumers are challenged to record the moment when they recycle the bottles of Água Monchique and share it on their social networks, accompanied by the hashtag #ecoselfie.
The brand believes that «this feature will trigger a new and innovative movement in social networks: #ecoselfie, which will make the adoption of the app go viral while stimulating the act of recycling», says Vítor Hugo Gonçalves.
It should be recalled that the Sociedade da Água de Monchique integrates the Portuguese Pact for Plastics, through the Association of Mineral and Spring Waters, and is a co-founding member of the Porto Protocol, a movement within which the company adopted a set of good practices that involved exchanges in the truck fleet, the acquisition of electric vehicles, renovation of the entire factory luminaire for LED systems, among many other initiatives that allowed huge gains in reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
“There are three main vectors that guided us throughout this process: innovation, sustainability and responsibility. And these are the principles that we want to pass on to the market and for which we want our company and our products to be recognized», reiterates Vítor Hugo Gonçalves, CEO of Sociedade da Água de Monchique.
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