Lotte Chilsung Reduces Plastic Equivalent to Two Earth Circumferences with 'Moolabel Water'

Annual 182 Tons, Saving Labels Equivalent to 500 Million Bottled Waters

Lotte Chilsung Beverage announced on the 2nd that it succeeded in reducing plastic usage equivalent to twice the circumference of the Earth by selling label-free bottled water last year.

In 2020, Lotte Chilsung Beverage introduced the industry’s first label-free bottled water, ‘Icis 8.0 ECO,’ which removed labels from the PET bottle body, and reduced 182 tons of plastic with label-free products last year alone. Considering that the weight of a label on a 500ml PET bottle of EuLabel water is 0.37g, this corresponds to reducing labels on approximately 500 million bottled water products. When the labels, each 21.1 cm long, are connected in a row, they reach about 100,000 km, which is two and a half times the circumference of the Earth.

Label-free bottled water has become a major purchasing criterion for consumers who pursue value consumption. Within three years of its launch, it accounted for half of bottled water sales, establishing itself as a mainstream product. Beyond bottled water, the share of label-free packaging including carbonated drinks such as Chilsung Cider, Trevi, and coffee products like Cantata grew to about 30% compared to the previous year.

In addition to expanding label-free products, Lotte Chilsung Beverage is steadily promoting the lightweighting of plastic containers.

The amount of plastic reduced last year through container lightweighting by Lotte Chilsung Beverage reached 8,565 tons compared to 2010. This is the result of efforts to further reduce the PET weight of 14 products including bottled water, coffee, tea, Gatorade, and Lipton from the existing 28g to 24g, a 14% additional reduction.

Meanwhile, Lotte Chilsung Beverage has established the ‘2030 Plastic Reduction Roadmap’ and plans to gradually expand the use of recycled materials with the core goal of reducing the use of new plastic derived from petroleum raw materials by 20% by 2030 compared to 2023.

A Lotte Chilsung Beverage official said, “We are continuously striving to reduce the environmental impact throughout the entire process from packaging material procurement to disposal after use,” and added, “We will continue to do our best to practice sincere ESG management that enhances quality innovation and sustainability.”