€2m investment in Newcastle West underpins Ballygowan’s move to target 100% sustainability

Kevin Donnelly, MD Britvic Ireland pictured at the Ballygowan bottling facility in Newcastle West, Limerick – David Clynch

Ireland’s own iconic Water Brand, Ballygowan, has moved its full range of grocery products to RPet, fully recycled and recyclable bottles. The move to new RPet bottles has been facilitated by a €2m investment in their operations at Newcastle West, the home and source of Ballygowan. The move is part of a drive for 100% sustainability across the business, under Britvic Ireland’s Healthier People, Healthier Planet strategy.

The shift to recycled bottles will remove 51million virgin plastic bottles from circulation annually. The
shift to recycled bottles will reduce Ballygowan’s virgin plastic consumption by 1,288 tonnes. Shifting
to lighter bottles will reduce plastic use by a further 245 tonnes. Overall, there will be a reduction of
1,533 Tonnes of virgin plastic each year.

Ballygowan is a 100% natural mineral water. Rainfall drifting in from the Atlantic Ocean falls on land
close to Newcastle West, Co. Limerick. It is filtered through mineral rich limestone over centuries and
then it returns to the surface from a well, where it is bottled and enjoyed all over Ireland.
Britvic Ireland is are committing to reducing direct carbon emissions by 50% by 2025 and indirect
carbon emission by 36% by 2025. Ballygowan is taking a lead within that ambition, having reduced its
direct carbon emissions by over 90%.

Ballygowan’s home at Newcastle West, now operates on 95% renewable energy and 100% renewable
electricity. That is the highest level of renewables use by any Britvic factory worldwide. There are
plans to further increase this in the years ahead. The facility at Newcastle West has also achieved zero
waste-to-landfill.

Ballygowan offers Irish consumers the opportunity to buy a locally produced brand, bottled at source
in Ireland. Not only does this support Irish jobs, it also reduces the environmental impact of
transporting bottles of other water brands from factories across Europe.
In addition to the launch of the new bottles, Ballygowan will be launching a new brand identity for
the product, its first significant brand refresh for many years. The new Ballygowan logo a ‘sky to
land’ logo, which encapsulates the brand story of Atlantic rain filtered through limestone rock. The
rebrand is being supported by a new advertising campaign and an overall €2m investment in
promotional and advertising spend.

Kevin Donnelly, Managing Director, Britvic Ireland, commented:
“Today’s announcement marks a major milestone in the story of Ballygowan. By its nature,
Ballygowan has always been attuned to the importance of our environment. The purity of our water
depends on a natural filtration that is embedded in the earth. By investing in a fully recycled bottling system, we are taking a major step to reduce our impact on the planet. This is the latest innovation in
a journey which has already seen a reduction of over 90% in our Manufacturing emissions for
Ballygowan under Britvic Ireland’s Healthier People, Healthier Planet strategy.

“The relaunch of our brand captures the natural spirit of Ballygowan. This new campaign tells
our origin story, from the air to the earth of Ireland Ballygowan is the most sustainable water brand in
the Irish market and we are incredibly proud of that.”

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