From:Packaging News

The British Plastics Federation (BPF) is dismayed at the decision by Selfridges to remove plastic water bottles from sale.

The department store announced the move as an attempt to tackle marine litter. It said it would install water fountains for customers to refill their own containers.

Alannah Weston, deputy chairman of Selfridges Group, said: “We aim to drive awareness of the serious threat plastic poses to our oceans.”

Philip Law, the BPF’s director general said, “The availability of water in portable, lightweight bottles promotes good health and can be critical in emergency situations. Plastic products do not litter themselves onto our streets or into our oceans, people do.”

In addition, Law commented on the positive progress being made in plastic bottle recycling saying, “During 2014, nearly 60% of PET plastic bottles in the household waste stream were collected for recycling. We all need to ensure that recycling rates continue to grow and we urge people to recycle their plastic bottles and not discard them as litter. The only way we can truly tackle littering is not by indiscriminately banning products but through ongoing behavioural change programmes.”

BPF said that it is a strong believer that issues surrounding litter can only be addressed by changing consumer behaviour.

It added that, “The Plastics Industry fully supports public campaigns against littering and sponsors a number of on-the-go recycling initiatives to help people dispose of their empty bottles and encourage sustainability.”

Also commenting on Selfridges’ decision, a spokesperson for the Natural Hydration Council said, “Bottled water represents approximately 18 per cent of the packaged soft drinks market and has the lowest environmental impact of all soft drinks. All plastic bottles are 100 per cent recyclable.”

At its London, Birmingham and Manchester stores, Selfridges will continue to sell other drinks in plastic bottles, while mineral water will be sold in glass bottles or in Tetra-Paks. The resusable bottles for customers wanting to use the upmarket store’s water fountains include a designer BKR model costing up to £28.(Bottled water sales in the UK are worth around £2bn a year.)