logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2025
17m 28s

Reusable water bottles: The new fast fas...

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Reusable bottles are everywhere – on your desk at work, at the gym, on a day out, doing a job in the fight against single-use plastic. But if we have multiple versions of refillable water bottles, are they just becoming fast fashion?

The global, refillable water bottle industry is worth $10 billion and it is growing at a rate of about 5% a year. Several brands have become household names with international offices across continents.

But these types of bottles are energy-intensive. Research suggests manufacturing a single reusable bottle can produce more emissions than producing a single-use plastic version, but that it works out better for the environment once it has been used multiple times. We look at the enormous growth in refillable bottles, and how celebrities and influencers have driven sales.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: businessdaily@bbc.co.uk

Producer/presenter: Rick Kelsey

(Photo: A young woman drinks from a water bottle in Central Park, NYC. Credit: Getty Images)

Up next
Yesterday
The impact of 'thirsty' data centres
We're in the US state of Georgia, where huge data centres need water to keep cool. But how is this need for cloud storage and AI capability affecting local residents and the environment?Presenter: Michelle Fleury Producer: Nathalie Jimenez(Image: Georgia resident Beverly Morris l ... Show More
17m 50s
Jul 8
Does university still get you a well-paid job?
Graduates are facing one of the toughest jobs markets in decades. We hear from students in India, the US and UK about whether they feel a university or college degree is worth it as we discuss the cost of attending university around the world and what your job prospects might be ... Show More
17m 27s
Jul 7
Returning to Ukraine?
The UN estimates that nearly seven million Ukrainians have left their home country since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Many have set up businesses in their new country - around 90,000 of those in Poland. We hear about the challenges they’ve faced, and the sectors ... Show More
17m 30s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2024
How we slashed our lab’s carbon footprint
Analytical chemist Jane Kilcoyne was working in her biotoxin monitoring lab one day in 2018 when she noticed a bin overflowing with plastic waste. The observation prompted her to join forces with like-minded colleagues and develop a package of measures aimed at reducing their lab ... Show More
24m 9s
Nov 2018
Why the plastics debate needs to focus on avoiding waste
Felix Gummer, director, Sancroft, and Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh debate why brands are becoming more fully engaged on packaging and focusing on keeping plastic out of the environment. They discuss how the combination of developments involving environmental concerns, government ... Show More
12m 25s
May 30
Pourquoi les boissons gazeuses sont-elles meilleures en canette qu'en bouteille ?
Si beaucoup trouvent que les boissons gazeuses (sodas, eaux pétillantes…) ont un goût meilleur en canette qu’en bouteille, ce n’est pas qu’une impression subjective : il y a des explications physiques, chimiques et sensorielles, dont la perméabilité est un facteur clé. Voici pour ... Show More
2m 12s
Mar 2024
88. That’s rubbish: How our waste is choking the planet and how we can clean it up
Just ahead of Zero Waste Day, this episode of The Weekly Tradecast talks trash with UNCTAD economist Henrique Silva Pacini Costa. From plastic packaging to fast fashion to car batteries, we have been creating mountains of waste for decades. It’s everywhere – in landfills, in the ... Show More
9m 25s
Jul 2024
Pourquoi les bouteilles d'eau ne portent-elles pas de date de péremption ?
Les bouteilles d'eau ne portent souvent pas de date de péremption pour plusieurs raisons, principalement liées à la nature de l'eau et aux réglementations sur les produits alimentaires : Nature de l'eau1. Stabilité chimique : L'eau est un composé chimiquement stable qui ne se dég ... Show More
1m 54s
Nov 2024
Chasing Arrows
Plastics production has doubled in the last two decades, clogging up our oceans and showing up in our organs. The massive growth in plastics production is also increasing CO2 output and driving up fossil fuel demand. Meanwhile, only 8% of plastic actually gets recycled, challengi ... Show More
30m 10s
Feb 2024
Is Taylor Swift bad for the environment?
Taylor Swift has finished her run of sold-out concerts here in Australia, playing in front of over 600,000 fans throughout the tour. Yet with events of this size comes a price to our environment. Many fans fly interstate or internationally, purely to be at those shows, which also ... Show More
12m 38s
May 16
Sustainably Wired: The Psychological Wiring Behind Sustainable Decisions with Dr. Yewon Kim
Dr. Yewon Kim is an assistant professor of marketing at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. Her work broadly focuses on the messages brands convey to consumers and how those consumers respond when firms introduce new information through their marketing strategies.In this epis ... Show More
39m 7s
Oct 2024
Weekly podcast – Regenerative agriculture’s role for sustainable drinks brands
This week: Diageo’s head of sustainable procurement, Andy Griffiths, talks with Ian Welsh about the company's rolling out of regenerative agriculture in various supply chains, and the challenges of making packaging more sustainable.   Plus: Starbucks acquires more innovation farm ... Show More
29m 33s