Packaging matters –
a comparison

Single-use plastic bottles place a huge burden on the environment. In Germany alone, an estimated 9.6 billion are used every year – globally, an astonishing 500 billion! Their production and transportation generate significant CO₂ emissions, and they take up to 450 years to decompose. Recycling these bottles, even with deposit systems, is expensive and inefficient.

Canned water is rare, but cans are widely used for other beverages. In countries with deposit systems, such as Germany, cans are seen as a convenient single-use option. Although technically easier to recycle than plastic bottles, producing and recycling aluminium or steel consumes enormous amounts of energy, making them ecologically problematic.

Whether made of plastic or glass, reusable bottles are a more sustainable alternative to single-use plastics. Reusable PET bottles can be refilled up to 20 times, and glass bottles up to 50 times. Glass bottles score additional sustainability points when regionally filled and transported over short distances. However, producing glass is energy-intensive, and transporting heavier glass bottles uses more energy.

Tap water is not only the cheapest but also the most environmentally friendly option. It generates no packaging waste, requires no long transport routes, and is widely available in high quality. With a water filter, it becomes a practical and sustainable alternative. However, clean tap water is not guaranteed everywhere. Standards for drinking water quality vary worldwide, and around a quarter of the global population lacks access to safe water.

Water filters easily remove substances like chlorine and limescale from tap water. Best of all, the CO₂ footprint of filtered water is far smaller than other options. One litre of filtered tap water generates just 7.1 grammes of CO₂ – compared to 161 grammes for bottled water. A single BRITA MAXTRA PRO water filter cartridge can replace 100 to 150 one-litre bottles up to local tap water conditions. Our recycling programme further reduces the environmental footprint. Find out more on our recycling website.