Estimation of quantity the waste of bottled water and survey of their waste management due to their increasing consumption

Abstract

Introduction: In countries such as Iran with treated and pure tap water, there is a prevailing propensity in major cities to consume bottled drinking water. Production and distribution of bottled water cause environmental issues in addition to generating bottle wastes and its associated problems. Main aim of this study was to investigate logics behind tendencies towards bottled drinking water usage in availability of treated tap water. Furthermore, of interest was to estimate the amount of bottled water wastes in Iran and to present managing principles for resolving this this issue. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire was used to survey reasons of tendencies towards bottled drinking water use among 120 study participants in Tabriz city (Iran). In order to estimate quantities of the produced PET wastes in country, data about the production rate as well as volume of the imported and exported drinking bottled water were collected for years 1962-2015 and applied in calculations. The current condition of managing and disposal of related PET wastes were surveyed through completing a checklist, visiting and interviewing with relevant authorities. Results: The study findings revealed that In Iran, about 0.026 to 3.86 billion liters of bottled water was consumed annually between 2000 and 2015. Equally, bottled water consumption has increased from 0.41 to 48.9 L/per capita-year within the same time period. Meantime, the waste plastic bottle generation rate has risen from 12.84 to 1519.38 gr/per capita-year. There is no efficient and suitable system for managing and recycling bottle wastes in the country. The probability of contamination and unreliability of tap water quality was main reason of bottled water consumption for about 74% of the respondents. Major considerations were contamination possibility of the tap water with poisonous chemicals (100%), microbial agents (98.3%), nitrate compounds (96.7%) and undesirable water hardness (95.8%) along with inadmissible taste and odor (95.0%). Conclusion: In the studied city (Tabriz) like most of the other cities in the country, clean and pure water is available according to the national and WHO standards. Thus, measures such as informing people, validating public water supply quality, some restricting polices and establishment of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for better management of the PET wastes are highly recommended to decrease bottled water consumption as well as its associated harmful environmental and health impacts.