The country's first carbon label for packaged drinking water products was released in Hangzhou

Recently, at the 2024 National Low Carbon Day Science Popularization Activity in Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Qiandao Lake Raw Water Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Hangzhou Water Group, released the country's first carbon label for packaged drinking water products - "Hangzhou Water" carbon label. Taking 500ml bottled water as an example, its life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions are 0.18 kg of CO2e (a basic unit for measuring the greenhouse effect), which reduces the greenhouse gas emissions by about 0.1 kg CO2e per bottle compared to traditional production models.

"The consumption of bottled water is expanding year by year, and the energy consumed and the waste generated by bottled water consumption are also increasing year by year." Peng Zhaoyuan, the head of the company, said that the carbon label quantifies the greenhouse gas emissions generated throughout the life cycle of the product, and informs consumers in the form of a label on the packaging. Using carbon labels to guide consumers to practice the concept of green consumption will also promote the development of the entire packaged drinking water industry in a low-carbon direction.

At present, there is no standard for the carbon footprint of the packaged drinking water industry in China. The "Hangshui" carbon label mainly adopts the international carbon footprint evaluation standards, and calculates from six links, including upstream raw material extraction and processing, raw material transportation, product production, product transportation, product use and product waste recycling, and carries out carbon label certification for bottled water of 300 ml, 500 ml and 5 liters.

It is reported that the Qiandao Lake Raw Water Company is the main body of the construction and operation of the Qiandao Lake water distribution project. This project is also the country's first pilot benchmark project for water diversion and distribution to reduce pollution and carbon emissions. The project starts from Chun'an Qiandao Lake in the west to Yuhang Xianlin Reservoir in the east, with a total length of 113 kilometers without any pressurized pumping station, and completely relies on the gravity of the water flow itself to convey water in a closed artesian manner. The annual water distribution of the project is 978 million cubic meters, and the annual electricity consumption is 1.623 billion kWh according to the unit water supply power consumption of 1.66 kWh/cubic meter, but the project realizes "zero power consumption" and "zero carbon" water transmission through closed gravity artesianism. According to calculations, full-gravity water transfer can reduce carbon emissions by about 1,618,600 tons of carbon dioxide per year.

Not only that, the flow and pressure regulation facilities are set up at the end of the water flow to recover the surplus energy. In other areas, the company has also adopted a series of emission reduction measures, such as the use of natural drinking water, the use of sustainable materials, and the rational planning of transportation routes.