The hundreds of thousands of water bottles sold and handed out at Wimbledon over the next fortnight will be made entirely from recycled plastic for the first time.
The tournament’s water sponsor Evian said technology advances mean that the 75cl bottles could now be manufactured with no “virgin” plastic content without compromising their quality.
Around 420,000 bottles are used during Wimbledon fortnight and last year they were made from only 25 per cent recycled plastic.
This year’s pilot scheme is the first time that Evian have trialled the use of this type of bottle on a large scale anywhere in the world.
It has pledged to make all of its bottles from 100 per cent recycled plastic by 2025.
Richard Lewis, chief executive of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, also said that huge efforts had gone into making sure that all used bottles are collected at the end of each day's play to reduce waste to an absolute minimum.
The club has hired 10 “eco champions” to help visitors to the tournament dispose of their plastic and other packaging and waste in the right collections bins.
He said: “People really want to do the right thing but they have to have the knowledge and the confidence to do the right thing. That is why we will have people around helping inform the public when they are looking to dispose their waste.”
James Pearson, managing director of Evian’s manufacturer Danone Waters UK & Ireland, also said that branding would be removed from bottles that will be seen on TV and on court and replaced with the words “I recycle,” so that the world’s top tennis players “will become ambassadors for recycling.”
Mr Pearson said: “We hope to be able to show how working in partnership we can take a circular approach so that packaging can be kept within the economy where it belongs, rather than become waste.”
