Marketing & Communications Circular Economy

Crystal Geyser Campaign Highlights Consumers’ Paramount Role in Recycling Ecosystem

A corresponding survey of US adults reveals the beverage industry has ‘more work to do when it comes to education’ around proper recycling.

Published 1 year ago | About a 4 minute read

Image: CG Roxane

CG Roxane LLC — the privately held, family-owned and operated maker of Crystal Geyser® Alpine Spring Water® and first US beverage company to open its own in-house, PET-recycling plants — has launched the brand's 360° integrated campaign, “Through the Loop.” The campaign builds on Crystal Geyser’s Simple… but not easy ™ stories from its Water Obsessed storyline introduced in 2020, by educating consumers on the importance of their role in the recycling ecosystem.

The Through the Loop campaign aims to educate consumers about the full circle of the recycling process so that they feel inspired to participate — ensuring their bottles make it into the bin and the recycling stream for reuse.

The creative focuses on a mother and daughter’s education around the manufacturing process behind Crystal Geyser water bottles — beginning with a transportive journey through a grocery-store cooler door, through a tour of a bottling plant and the company’s use of recycled PET (rPET) plastic, and spotlighting the consumer participation necessary for the company to create bottles from recycled plastic. The 2023 campaign will be supported with an integrated media strategy tapping into broadcast news, cable networks, connected TV, streaming audio, and shoppable mobile media.

In tandem, CG Roxane announced the official opening of its second in-house recycled-PET bottling plant in Benton, TN — marking its shift to producing Crystal Geyser bottles manufactured with no less than 50 percent rPET content.

A May 2023 study* conducted on behalf of CG Roxane revealed a need for more education when it comes to the US public’s understanding of their role in — as well as nuances within — the recycling process, given 32 percent are unable to correctly identify the universal recycling symbol and 47 percent feel unaware of the recycling initiatives and laws in their city or state. Beyond this, 66 percent of the US adults surveyed did not know what post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic — the category under which recycled PET plastic falls — meant; but once it was explained to them, more than half of respondents said it mattered to them.

"Interestingly, after learning that post-consumer recycled plastic is plastic produced from post-consumer recycled resin used to create new packaging to reduce impact on landfill waste, 56 percent of respondents noted purchasing PCR plastic products to be important to them," said Charles Calvat, CG Roxane’s Director of Corporate Social Responsibility. "Despite CG Roxane's commitment to promoting sustainability and reducing our environmental footprint through the likes of our recycled PET program, the survey reveals we have more work to do when it comes to education — as over half of American consumers are unaware of the initiatives companies and businesses are working on when it comes to PCR plastic."

California-based CG Roxane says it is already far ahead of the state’s Plastic Minimum Content Standards (AB 793) mandate requiring beverage companies to reach a minimum of 25 percent PCR content by 2025 and 50 percent by 2030. By producing Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water bottles manufactured with no less than 50 percent recycled PET content, it will save nearly 11,000 metric tons of CO₂ per year — the equivalent of removing over 2,500 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles from the roads, according to the EPA.

"We believe that sustainability is a collective effort, with all actions small and large making a difference," Calvat added. "We hope that our educational campaign will inspire others to join us by taking small steps every day to increase their participation in the recycling ecosystem."

This consumer-facing educational effort is a part of CG Roxane's broader commitments to sustainability and its communities, which include optimizing water use in manufacturing; reducing carbon emissions; expanding its use of renewable energy to power select plants; partnerships with organizations including the California Coastal Commission and American Forests; and equipping its 8oz bottles with innovations such as an "EZ-Open" tethered cap that reduces plastic usage and helps prevent wildlife endangerment.

* Data from a survey conducted by OnePoll on behalf of CG Roxane from May 8 to May 12, 2023, with a panel of 2,000 general population adults.