Mineral water containers have more functions than just ensuring that their content reaches our homes, and that it retains all the purity and healthy properties of this vital liquid. -Isidro González


* General Secretary of the Packaging and Society Platform. / [email protected]


The particularities of mineral water make it a unique product, since it is pure water of origin. The containers are principally exerting a double function, as emphasized by José Ángel Garde, technician of the Department of Packaging Technologies at AINIA, with more than 20 years of experience in the sector, "the first would be to preserve the product in the double sense, protect the content placed by the packer, so that it keeps its properties intact and can be maintained in optimal conditions and, secondly, protect it from external agents."
In addition, Garde continues, "the packaging would also have other key functions, such as for example, being the physical support for a label, which is a channel of information for the consumer, and so on."
The standing package of the spring allows the qualities of the mineral water to be preserved intact, while its original purity is completely protected, so that said liquid does not receive any type of chemical or microbiological treatment for its consumption.
This process of packaging, which is carried out in conditions of extreme asepsis, enables all the properties and purity of the water to be maintained and protects it from the action of external agents, as does the aquifer where it is found.
In this regard, the National Association of Bottled Drink Water Companies (ANEABE) mentions, "as it is a food product, bottled water is subject to very strict legislation on hygiene and food safety, which absolutely guarantees its safety as well as the maintenance of its purity and its essential characteristics."
Another key functionality of the package is to guarantee a quality hydration at any time and place. This is possible due to the great diversity of formats and sizes, in which natural mineral water is packaged and which are adapted to the needs of each person and their circumstances (school, work, travel, etc.).
It should be noted that mineral waters have been the first in the food and beverage industry to use containers with recycled plastic and, in addition, currently the containers and packaging used are 100% recyclable.
It is important to note that the weight of the containers has been reduced by 40% thanks to ecodesign, which favors less use of material. In this sense, José Ángel Garde points out that they are looking for materials that come from renewable sources and that get, for example, to manufacture PET containers from 100% renewable sources.


-Importance of the label on the containers of natural mineral water-
The labeling of the containers is a way of transmitting information to the consumer, because thanks to this, he or she will know about the place of origin (source), its characteristics, the specific mineral composition, and so on.
For Garde, packaging is an important channel of information, "in some way it has to be able to contribute and transmit that information to the consumer." Therefore, he points out, "good labeling is fundamental and essential." This way we guarantee that, as consumers, we have all the information about the natural mineral water that we are drinking.
For its part, the Water and Health Research Institute (IIAS) suggests that the consumer look at the label to know about the characteristics and peculiarities of the natural mineral water that he or she chooses, since—thanks to his information—he or she will know about what he or she drinks, and will choose the one that best suits his or her needs and preferences.


-Packaged water and care of the environment-
Although it is true that the consumer plays an important role in the use and subsequent management of the containers, the mineral water sector puts all the tools at their disposal to give them a second life and that the used containers will again be turned into resources with which new objects are created (clothes, footwear, new bottles, ropes, etc.).
For this reason, the industry has shown great interest in the care and protection of the environment by signing an environmental commitment in 2012 with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Environment (MAPAMA), where it was voluntarily obliged to comply with certain environmental objectives in 2015. Ahra is working on a new one that ends in the year 2020.
The commitment is such that the packaged water industry makes an economic onctribution to the correct environmental management of its packaging waste by donating approximately 50 million euros to eco-packaging annually as a green dot.


-A key product for disasters and emergencies-
Natural mineral water is an essential element in situations of emergency or natural disasters (fires, earthquakes or floods, etc.), because it is a food product of first necessity. Therefore, it is essential to have a safe and quality water supply, as well as having sufficient reserves of bottled mineral water to meet the needs of the affected population.
In this sense, as ANEABE states, "water is an essential element in all moments of life. The container protects the water and facilitates its transport and storage under hygienic and safety conditions without altering its quality until the moment of its consumption." He therefore adds, "the functions of the container of protection, ease of transport and storage of water, make the container a fundamental element for water supply at any time of emergency, especially in cases of emergency."
The mineral water sector is aware of the advantages offered by packaging, so there are more and more formats that allow us to choose a product according to our tastes and needs so that there will be no lack of mineral water at any time.
Finally, mineral waters are different from each other thanks to the richness of nature that makes each product unique and provides it with a particular composition, since it depends on the spring from which it comes.