The Bottled Water Crisis

Poisoned by Convenience

Plastic water bottles were meant to be a quick solution. But they've become a long-term global problem — for our oceans, our wallets, and our future. Plastic bottles have become a Bottled Water Crisis globally and in the UK.

The Global Plastic Bottled Water Crisis

• 1 million plastic bottles are sold every minute.

• That’s over 525 billion bottles every year.

• 80% of those bottles end up in landfills or the ocean.

• They take up to 450 years to break down — and even then, they never truly disappear.

Every bottle ever made still exists. Most won’t be recycled. Some will float in the ocean. Others will break down into microplastics — now found in fish, drinking water, and even human blood.

A Closer Look at the UK

The UK alone consumes 7.7 billion plastic bottles per year. While 61% are collected, nearly 16 million still go unrecycled every year.

• Plastic bottles generate around 2.5 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions in the UK alone.

• The average Briton creates 99 kg of plastic waste per year, among the world’s highest.

And yet, the UK’s long-awaited bottle return scheme won’t arrive until 2027, and it will exclude glass — a critical missed opportunity.

The Real Cost of Bottled Water

It’s not just the planet that pays.

• Tap water in the UK costs about 0.1p per litre.

• Bottled water averages 65p per litre — 650× more expensive.

• Every litre of bottled water takes up to 3 litres of total water to produce, including packaging and transport.

More Than Litter: The Ecological Toll

• Plastic packaging = 36% of global plastic waste.

• Over 85% of it is never properly recycled.

• An estimated 100,000 marine animals die each year due to plastic waste.

  
  

It’s not just about what ends up in landfills — it’s what gets lost into rivers, oceans, and ecosystems that can’t recover.

What Can You Do? Choose Better.

Voxpure offers a small but meaningful shift — a reusable, UV-C self-cleaning water bottle that purifies water in 180 seconds, anywhere you are.

• Cut your reliance on bottled water

• Save money

• Reduce plastic waste

• Stay healthy without chemicals or filters

  
  

It won’t solve the plastic crisis overnight. But it’s a step. One that travels with you, every day.

Final Thought

The bottle crisis wasn’t caused by a single bad decision — it’s the result of convenience, unchallenged. But that’s also how we fix it: by making smarter, easier choices. One bottle at a time.

Curious about Voxpure reach out at hello@voxpure.net