How Big Is the Environmental Impact of Bottled Water?

These days, the media seem to specialize in erroneous claims about plastic packaging. Instead of acknowledging the irrefutable facts about plastic being an essential consumer packaging material —e.g. they help ensure access to clean, safe, and affordable drinking water—reporters often speculate about the alleged risks of using plastic to store and transport the products we use. One of their perennial targets is bottled water.

“[B]ottled water has devastating environmental impacts,” one website article claims. “At every stage of its lifecycle—production, transportation, and disposal—it leaves a massive carbon footprint that contributes to climate change and plastic pollution.” That certainly sounds troubling, but reality simply doesn't match this anti-bottled water rhetoric.

Below are facts that clarify what the evidence shows about the environmental impact of plastic bottled water.

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The environmental footprint of bottled water is actually smaller than what most people think, and it’s certainly smaller than what’s portrayed in the media. In fact, bottled water has the smallest environmental footprint of all packaged beverages. Below, we review common questions people often have about bottled water’s environmental impact and provide science-backed answers. Once you know the facts, you’ll be able to not only make smart choices that strengthen the environmental health of the planet but also give yourself license to keep enjoying bottled water guilt free.

Most single-serve bottled water is packaged in plastic, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles are the most common container. Are other kinds of beverage containers like glass, aluminum, or paperboard better for the environment?

When you look at the entire life cycle of these beverage containers, PET bottles are the more sustainable overall and have a smaller carbon footprint in several key areas. A cradle-to-grave peer-reviewed analysis in 2023 by Franklin Associates and the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) studied beverage container systems.

For carbonated soft drinks, they found that a 12-ounce aluminum can created three times more solid waste, used three times more energy in production, and produced two to three times more greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than a 20-ounce PET bottle. By comparison, a 12-ounce glass bottle created 14 times more solid waste, took five times more energy to produce, and emitted seven to 10 times more GHGs than the 20-ounce PET bottle. Looking at a 16.9-ounce PET water bottle in particular, the same study concluded that it consumed 80% less energy and used 53% less water during production, created 80% less solid waste, and generated 68% to 83% fewer emissions that contribute to acid rain and smog compared with a 12-ounce aluminum can.

“What if everyone switched to a PET container and moved away from aluminum?” asks Laura Stewart, NAPCOR’s executive director. “Switching to PET globally could cut packaging-related emissions by over 50%. We make decisions about hydration very quickly, but by being intentional and choosing a PET bottle, you’re doing better for the planet.”

In short, PET bottled water containers weigh less because it takes fewer resources to produce them. Lower material usage means less impact from material extraction, manufacturing, and ultimately results in less material entering landfills or needing to be recycled.

What can you do to reduce your environmental footprint?

When at home, you can use a watercooler with 3- and 5-gallon water jugs, which ensures consistent access to fresh, high-quality water while also lessening environmental impact. When you’re on the go, choose bottled water in a PET container, the plastic bottle marked with the #1 resin code for recycling. PET bottles are accepted by nearly all U.S. recycling programs and can be recycled over and over, so fewer end up in landfills. But this can work only if you dispose of your bottles in the proper recycling bin (remembering to leave on the plastic caps, as they are not recycled separately). If just 200,000 people each recycled one extra PET bottle a day, then 2,168 tons of GHGs would be eliminated, according to research conducted for NAPCOR. In addition, PET bottles can be made with up to 100% post-consumer recycled material, so urge your legislators to expand access to recycling programs.

As of February 2021, 88% of all U.S. residents had access to recycling programs that accept PET bottles according to a study conducted on behalf of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. Research from The Recycling Partnership found in 2024, however, that only 73% of all U.S. households had physical access to a recycling container, and among those households, only an estimated 59% actually participated.

That translates into a disappointing 43% of households nationwide that recycle, so it’s also crucial to boost participation. Access and participation also vary widely by state. In 13 states, 40% or more of households have no access to recycling programs, and in nine of those states, half or more households have no access at all. In general, participation rates are higher where access is easier.

NAPCOR’s latest PET recycling report finds a 33% gross post-consumer recycling rate for PET bottles in 2023 (the PET recycling rate in the United States, Mexico, and Canada combined that year was 41.3%). NAPCOR’s latest available recycling rate specifically for PET bottled water bottles, which reports data from 2023, stands at 32.7%.

The above is taken from “How Big Is the Environmental Impact of Bottled Water?”, originally published in Bottled Water Reporter, May 2025.