Lotte Chilsung Beverage Removes Bottle Cap Labels from 'Icis ECO'... Completely Eliminates Vinyl Waste

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Lotte Chilsung Beverage announced on the 8th that it will remove the labels attached to the caps of PET bottles for the two types of Icis ECO (1.5ℓ, 2ℓ) produced for bundle packaging and newly launch them.

The labels on the cap of the label-free water, which indicated the water source and mineral content, were previously naturally removed by consumers when drinking the product, making separation and disposal easy, but now they have been removed entirely to prevent any plastic waste from occurring.

On February 23, Lotte Chilsung Beverage signed a business agreement with the Ministry of Environment and drinking water manufacturers to use transparent PET bottles without brand bands. Following the domestic first release of label-free water last year, they are now introducing a completely label-free product by also removing the cap label. Bundle packaging products will have labels completely removed, while individual sale products will have labels attached to the caps in accordance with government policy.

Lotte Chilsung Beverage also revamped the bundle packaging design to differentiate the brand. They used the symbolic colors pink and blue as the main colors so that consumers can intuitively recognize the Icis brand despite the label-free water, and the logo was prominently displayed.

The packaging design includes various awards such as the ‘2020 Resource Circulation Good Packaging Contest Minister of Environment Award - Grand Prize’, ‘2020 Excellent Design Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Award’, and the ‘14th Korea Packaging Exhibition Korea Institute of Industrial Technology Director’s Award’ as the first label-free water in Korea. It also includes the achievement of receiving the highest grade, the excellent grade, in the packaging material structure evaluation.

A Lotte Chilsung Beverage official said, “The Icis ECO for bundle packaging without cap labels actively participates in the Ministry of Environment’s policy direction for eco-friendly packaging and is a product introduced as a leader in the bottled water industry.” He added, “We will continue to make efforts to develop and launch products with high recyclability, including plastic lightweighting.”