DEBATE: Should Canada ban bottled water?

Given that the Canadian bottled water industry uses just .02 per cent of permitted water compared to thermal power generation (64 per cent), manufacturing (14 per cent), municipalities (12 per cent), agriculture (9 per cent), and mining (1 per cent), the notion of Canada banning bottled water is absurd if meaningful environmental progress is the objective. Even the Polaris Institute has called bans on the sale of bottled water "nothing more than environmental symbolism" at public meetings before Toronto City Council in December 2008 and again in Brockville at a general meeting in March 2009.

We agree that access to water is a basic right. However, water is a commodity. It is a fundamental requirement for the growth, processing, manufacture, and distribution of all foods consumed by human beings. It is the essence of life. The bottled water industry had nothing to do with this fact.

If Canadians don't have equal access to water today, it is because government has not made repairing water infrastructure a priority, which it clearly has not. Canada has a $21 billion deficit in this area and, as a result, Canadians will have endured more than 1,500 boil-water advisories by year-end.

Most bottled water does not cost $1.50. Ninety five per cent of bottled water is sold in bulk through grocery stores at 17 cents a half-litre. A litre of tap water costs a cent. Canadians don't see them as alternatives. Seventy per cent of Canadians drink both, consuming tap water at home and bottled water away from home. Bottled water competes with other bottled beverages.

Bottled water has the lightest environmental footprint of any bottled beverage, in terms of plastics, water or energy use. The recycling rate for its containers was 66 per cent last year and represented less than 1/8 of one per cent of the waste stream. If the industry ceased tomorrow, there would be no appreciable reduction in the amount of waste going to landfill.

The number of municipalities that have banned the sale of bottled water on their premises is 25, not 81. While I have great respect for Tony, his organization lacks the resources to accurately monitor this issue. We and our industry partners have the necessary resources. It is our business to do so.

About 103 local governments have rejected resolutions to ban the sale of bottled water in their facilities. Most telling is the fact that several thousand local jurisdictions have determined there are more important matters to consider than bottled water, like repairing aging water and sewer infrastructure, improving local service delivery, and keeping taxes low. Recent polling indicates that most consumers do not support bans on the sale of bottled water.

Bottled water sales are not declining. Sales are up 10 per cent this year.

No watershed in Canada has ever been impacted by the water-taking activities of our industry. We take less than one per cent of available fresh water from the watersheds we draw from. Nestlé and the bottled water industry are not significant factors in the global access-to-water debate: agriculture uses 70 per cent of available fresh water, industry 20 per cent, domestic users 10 per cent and the bottled water industry less than one per cent.

As discussed earlier, Mr. Jeffery's remarks are a fact of life until government makes water infrastructure investment a priority. Bottled water competes with other bottled beverages.

Nestlé has demonstrated re-use by introducing a major bottled water brand in 100 per cent recycled plastic. Through ISO 14001 certification, the company continually reduces its use of water and energy.

We appear before local governments about bottled water matters on a point of principle. We don't sell our products to municipalities. But, we believe Canadians have the right to choose whether or not to consume bottled water wherever they may be, particularly because of its health attributes. We don't believe the decision should be made for them.

Tony, FCM recently indicated to journalists that it doesn't record the number of municipalities that have banned the sale of bottled water in their facilities. Given that most Canadian municipalities do not serve -- and have never served -- single-use bottled water at Council, staff or other meetings and, given that we recommend that potable tap water be served in pitchers during Council and other meetings within a municipal facility, there are only two statistics that matter -- and that's the 25 municipalities over the last five years that have banned the sale of the product and the 103 local governments over the last 2.5 years that have rejected such a proposition.

Why would we advocate the consumption of tap water in an office setting over single-use bottled water? Three reasons. Our product is primarily an on-the-go beverage. It doesn't compete with tap water. And, Canadians need to consume more water, whether bottled or tap, for better health.

That said, municipal taxpayers and staff have the right to purchase and consume the beverage of their choice in a municipal facility. The decision should not be made for them.

Bottled water sales will have increased 10% in Canada by the end of this year, according to independent market research firm Nielsen Research.

Nestlé and its industry partners simply aren't significant factors in the global access-to-water debate. The lack of access to potable water in developing countries is a direct consequence of the failure by their governments to invest in proper infrastructure. In many cases, the water is there. There is no effective means to draw it or to ensure it is potable.

The inference that money spent on bottled water represents an investment that is not being made in municipal water and sewer infrastructure is simply illogical. Canadians pay local, provincial and federal taxes, partly so that government at all levels will invest in water and sewer infrastructure construction and maintenance. They spend their after-tax or disposable income on many consumer items, including bottled water. They do not spend money on bottled water at the expense of tap water.

ISO 14001 greenwashing? Tony, you can do better than that...

We approach those municipalities considering a ban on bottled water about improving their recycling practices because they cite our containers going to landfill as a reason for such contemplation. While we diverted 66% of beverage containers from landfill last year and partially funded every recycling program across Canada, we believe more can be done. We are investing heavily to establish public spaces recycling programs nationally, which includes continuous public education related to recycling and littering. Quebec is in the final year of a program that is diverting up to 97% of recyclable materials from the waste stream. The first permanent program in North America was established by the industry in Manitoba this past Spring. Successful pilots have taken place in Ontario (Sarnia and Niagara Region) and Nova Scotia (Halifax). The industry is poised to initiate a pilot in British Columbia next year.

In closing, a recent City of Hamilton report put the folly of banning bottled water in proper perspective: "There is no evidence that a ban on bottled water will achieve the desired outcomes of reducing reliance on bottled water, namely reducing waste and litter, adversely affecting watersheds and encouraging people to choose municipal water. Other bottled beverages exist and we do not know if a ban will influence consumers to switch from single-use bottled water to municipal drinking water. Some consumers may switch to municipal drinking water, while others may purchase a less healthy beverage in a single-use container, which still creates waste and litter and may adversely affecting the water shed (e.g.: water may still be exported outside its watershed by use for beverage companies). Therefore a ban on bottled water may inadvertently have negative health and environmental consequences. Encouraging people to choose municipal water is best achieved through a social marketing campaign and increasing access to municipal tap water, and not by banning bottled water."