Gerolsteiner's 1-litre returnable PET bottle has been upgraded and is now more stable, can be circulated up to 25 times and consists of 50 per cent recycled PET.
Gerolsteiner has further developed its classic container: From mid-January 2026, the new Gerolsteiner 1-litre PET returnable bottle will be introduced to the markets and gradually replaced by the previous model.
The new Gerolsteiner 1-litre PET returnable bottle is more stable than its predecessor and can therefore be refilled up to 25 times, significantly more often than the existing container. The new bottle's robustness and greater stability is due to its base shape: a so-called champagne base replaces the previous four-foot base. The amount of material used has also been slightly increased. The bottle now weighs 62 g instead of 48 g, making it even more durable.
Thanks to the new bottle design, Gerolsteiner can now also use recycled PET (rPET) for its returnable bottle, i.e. PET that is obtained from used bottles and recycled. The new 1-litre container has an rPET content of 50 percent. According to current calculations, the new bottle saves Gerolsteiner around 1,900 tonnes of CO2 per year, which means more than a third fewer emissions compared to the previous bottle.
The basic design and dimensions of the bottle (height, diameter, labelling field, closure) will not be changed, so that the existing crate can be retained and both containers can be sold in parallel for a while. The article numbers will also remain the same. The Gerolsteiner 1-litre PET returnable bottle pool is so large that a changeover on a specific date is neither possible nor sensible from a sustainability point of view. Many of the existing returnable PET bottles are still in good condition and will therefore continue to be used throughout their entire life cycle.
For an expected period of two to three years, both bottles will therefore be available together in Gerolsteiner's 12 x 1-litre returnable PET crates. From January, the returnable PET bottles will have special labels to inform consumers about the packaging changeover and the coexistence of the two bottle types.
Gerolsteiner favours a variety of containers and offers its products in returnable glass and PET bottles as well as non-returnable PET bottles. Reusable packaging plays a major role for the mineral water company. 70 per cent of Gerolsteiner's sales are in returnable glass and PET containers.
Source: Gerolsteiner
