It's made from no new plastic.

When we relaunched our Just FreshDirect bottled water last year, we wanted to achieve two things. Firstly, we wanted a naturally refreshing spring water to keep our customers hydrated. And second, we wanted to package it in such a way that wouldn't be harmful to the environment.

"We know our customers care as much about the environment as we do, which is why we wanted to offer a better alternative to plastic water bottles," says Carrie Mesing, Senior Director of Just FreshDirect. "We love the idea that our customers are drinking a healthy beverage like water instead of soda, but we wanted to find a more sustainable system. Converting our program to a closed-loop takes hundreds of bottles out of the system that would otherwise find their way into landfills."

We knew that sourcing great water would be the (relatively) easy part. But making a plastic bottle from 100% recycled plastic would be a little trickier. After months of research and meetings, we partnered with a company based in western Pennsylvania called Ice River Springs, who not only source water from two protected local springs, but have also managed to find a way to convert recycled bottles into new ones using a system they call "closed-loop recycling."

So what exactly is closed-loop recycling and how does it work? After plastic recyclables are collected by local municipalities, they are compressed into mixed plastic bales. Ice River Springs then buys these bales, sorts them into different types of plastic, grinds them into flakes, and then, finally, washes and purifies them. These plastic pellets are then used to make new bottles – and the bottle cap – and after use, they are fully recyclable, so they can be recycled again, again, and again...and the loop is closed!