Bottled-water giant responds to ban in Brandon
BRANDON, Man. (CUP) — The chair of Brandon University board of governors has received a letter from Nestlé Waters Canada — one of the largest bottled-water producers in the country — calling the school’s recent decision to ban the sale and distribution of bottled water “troubling.”
Board chair Richard Lonstrup received the letter on Jan. 15, and the board of governors has released both the original letter as well as Lonstrup’s reply.
The letter from Nestlé states that “The possibility of a ban is troubling to our employees, customers and business partners who live and conduct commerce in your community,” and that “Given the current uncertain economic environment that exists in the country, we are of the view that a ban would impact the current employment outlook for our industry as well as future job creation, environmental stewardship and industry investment prospects.”
The letter goes on to say that, if school’s concern in implementing the ban was about recycling and litter, that Nestlé and its “industry partners” have entered an agreement with the Manitoba government to collect and recycle bottles in residential neighborhoods and institutional facilities like Brandon University.
Nestlé also claimed that, according to waste audits, bottled water containers make up one-fifth of a percentage of all waste and that “If the bottled water industry was to disappear tomorrow, there would be no appreciable reduction in the amount of refuse going to landfill.”
Also touted were the benefits of simply drinking more water, “whether from bottled or tap sources.” Included with the letter was a guide to Nestlé and their bottled water line, with information on their policies on recycling, environmental impact and water safety guidelines, as well as the health benefits of drinking water and the safety of their plastic bottles.
Lonstrup and university president Dr. Deborah Poff responded on Jan. 19, writing that Brandon University shared Nestlé’s concern with health, and that “any proposal would have to include programs to promote making healthy choices, including the benefit of consuming water.”
They wrote of the new programs being instated alongside the ban, including refurbishing water fountains and the sale of reusable bottles by the school’s students’ union. They also noted that bottled water could still be consumed on campus, and that products “enhanced by the manufacturer” — flavoured water or water with nutrients — would still be sold on campus.
This distinction was clarified the week prior in a meeting with Pepsi, the university’s exclusive beverage distributor. According to the letter, sales data from both Brandon University and Pepsi have shown a shift towards flavoured water by consumers over the past year, prior to the ban.
The response also noted that the decision to stop the sale of water at the school was requested by the Brandon University Students’ Union, who brought up the issues of commoditization of a basic human resource, the energy consumed to produce and transport bottled water, and the cost of bottled water over tap water “coupled with the generally reduced financial status of students.”
Lonstrup and Poff also wrote that “Any disadvantages of not selling bottled water appear to be relatively minor . . . in either the loss of sales of beverages or the encouraged consumption of ‘free,’ desirably healthy tap water.”
According to both letters, Nestlé had contacted the board of governors on the same topic in June 2009.
Nestlé sent a similarly worded letter to the city council of Dawson Creek, B.C. in 2009, after they proposed to ban reducing bottled water consumption in city hall.
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