‘The status quo is not an acceptable solution’
People have been drinking water from the Tönissteiner springs in the Eifel region for over 2,000 years. The ‘oldest Roman spring in Germany’ is also one of the most modern. Together with ALPLA, the mineral water company Privatbrunnen Tönissteiner Sprudel has developed a pioneering reusable bottle made from 100 per cent recycled PET (rPET). In this interview, Managing Director Hermann-Josef Hoppe talks about the market success and added value of the sustainable solution.
Reusable Tönissteiner bottles made from 100 per cent recycled PET (rPET) at the point of sale.
Mr Hoppe, Tönissteiner has been bottling mineral water from Germany's oldest Roman spring since 1891. What does the company's present look like?
We are one of the most successful mineral water producers in Germany in a stagnating mineral water market. More than 110 employees are committed to this. Our Tönissteiner and Eifel-Quelle brands are sold within a radius of 200 kilometres - which makes sense for a regionally active spring.
Sustainability is very important to Tönissteiner. How does this manifest itself in concrete terms?
At our site, we only fill all products in returnable containers. Over 85 per cent of the production volume is filled in returnable glass bottles, the rest in returnable PET bottles. We use glass, but it has its limits. This is evident when doing sport, travelling, at events and at work, with children or older people. In 2021, we took a close look at the 1-litre reusable PET bottle previously used by the German mineral water association GDB and worked with ALPLA to develop a customised solution for our company. The 100 per cent rPET returnable bottles have been in circulation since October 2023 - and they have already been sold millions of times over. We are sure that we will have a lot more fun with our own new container.
Why is a regional water company switching to a customised bottle?
The GDB container has been one of the most widely distributed mineral water containers in Germany for 25 years. The pool bottle with the typical pearl structure on the surface is shared by numerous brands. However, our analysis has shown that our regional brands are unable to differentiate themselves sufficiently at the point of sale. Moreover, innovations are hardly possible in the existing pool. The lowest common denominator is often the end result - and this prevents progress.
The status quo is not an acceptable solution for us. We have to move forward economically and ecologically. We have therefore completely rethought the PET container. The rPET bottles reduce material consumption, the closed cycle conserves resources and our own crates provide logistical advantages.
What are the crates all about?
In 2018/19, we launched an individual crate for Tönissteiner and Eifel-Quelle, which was filled with the then newly introduced 0.75-litre N2 glass returnable bottles from the GDB pool - with surprisingly great success. We are now using the same crates for the new rPET bottle. This means that we can swap the bottle type in future if there is a shift in sales between glass and rPET and continue to use the crates without having to make any adjustments. It also gives us excellent brand visibility at the POS.
How was the bottle created?
In ALPLA at the Vlotho-Exter site, we have found an experienced development partner with whom we have good personal chemistry. The design of the bottle was defined very quickly and is now protected throughout the EU. The PET bottle was successfully moved into the glass crate. But there was more to come!
Then rPET came into play?
Exactly. At that time, a maximum of 60 per cent rPET was the state of the art for returnable PET bottles. We could have started right away. ALPLA even considered 100 per cent rPET to be feasible and reckoned with a further six months of development time. The wait was worth it: in autumn 2023, we became the first mineral water bottler in Europe to launch a 100 per cent rPET returnable bottle.
The pioneering reusable bottle made from 100 per cent rPET is also offered under the Eifel-Quelle brand.
How does Tönissteiner guarantee quality?
In addition to the usual quality checks on our products, we mark our rPET bottles with a small triangle under the label every time they are filled. These markings can be read by machine. If the bottle reaches a certain circulation number, it is automatically sorted out. This significantly increases the quality of the bottles to be filled. We are currently planning at least 15 cycles - it could even be more. Together with ALPLA, we are building a closed cycle for the sorted bottles. The old Tönissteiner rPET bottle will be turned into a new one.
Are there any other advantages of the customised solution?
Using the same crates for glass and PET and for both brands simplifies logistics. This means that when the beverage wholesalers return empties, all crates can be returned to us on a pallet without being sorted by brand or bottle type. This works perfectly. The initial scepticism has turned completely positive. Empties are sorted at Tönissteiner in the new empties sorting system. The new crate format also enables better utilisation during transport. Five additional crates per pallet equates to around 160 crates per lorry - that's 12 per cent fewer journeys. We had not anticipated this increase in efficiency.
The facts
- New 100 per cent rPET returnable bottle for mineral water in Germany
- Closed recycling loop for rPET: material from ALPLArecycling
- Same crate for glass and rPET bottles and 12 per cent transport advantage thanks to new crate format
- Fine sorting of empties at the plant, systematic collection of third-party bottles and direct exchange of third-party empties with neighbouring wells
- Transparent and measurable quality labelling on the rPET bottle
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