Conscientious consumers across the UAE can celebrate a victory for the environment with the launch of Nüwater this past year, a dramatically disruptive new way to consume sparkling water, with still water to be launched Q1 2021.

Nüwater comes in a stylish aluminium can, with a resealable lid. Sounds simple enough, but the company is on a mission to become the most sustainable beverage company in the Middle East – without sacrificing consumer convenience.

Cyrus Alavi, CEO of Nüwater, explains: “We appreciate water is vital for good health and brain function, but also understand what an environmental nightmare the enormous volume of discarded plastic water bottles creates – not only in the UAE, but globally. We wanted to create a product that was healthy, easy to use and more environmentally friendly – and Nüwater is the result.”

Cyrus joined two childhood friends with a similar lifelong passion for the environment, and together they decided to take positive action to help prevent the 8 million tonnes of plastic that ends up in our oceans every year from getting there – without sacrificing convenience and taste.

As the water market in the UAE continues to grow – figures suggest the UAE has the 7th highest (bottled) water consumption rate globally – Cyrus and his team searched for a solution to what he viewed as an enormous issue – providing people with high quality, competitively priced water, without the environmental headaches.

Research revealed aluminium is easily recycled, and it’s a material that has been re-circulating since the 1970s. An aluminium container can be recycled and back on the shelves within 60 days. Amazingly, 75% of aluminium produced since 1888 is still in productive use. Plastic bottles, on the other hand, mainly end up in landfill or incinerators, and do not have the same properties as aluminium in terms of continuous recyclability.

UAE consumers are far more environmentally aware than they used to be, but it’s a culture where plastic bottled water is ubiquitous, cheap and of course, vital. The idea behind Nüwater is to provide an easy, more eco-aware solution for people to adopt better sustainable practices into their daily life without really having to think.

Nüwater is sourced from an artesian spring 500 meters underground, one of the deepest springs in the world. Filtered through rich volcanic rock in Vulkaneifel, Germany, and bottled at source, Nüwater supplies the body with minerals essential for life – magnesium, calcium, potassium, sodium and iron, delivering around 40% of your recommended daily intake (RDI) of magnesium and 18% of your RDI of calcium. The company wanted to ensure Nüwater is a premium water product – and experts agree water which naturally filters through volcanic rock is considered the best.

Alavi – an engineer by trade – made sure Nüwater’s manufacturing process is 100% carbon neutral. The European canning site is powered by wind and solar. What’s more, the company is striving to be a carbon net positive company by 2023 – actually pushing renewable energy onto the grid rather than consuming it.

Other imported waters create sustainability issues in the supply chain – manufacturing, packaging and transportation all create emission. Local desalinated water is a highly energy intensive process, removes all the minerals and produces toxic waste that is sent back to the ocean.

While the Nüwater team acknowledges using filtered tap water in a sustainable carrier is ultimately best for the environment, practically speaking this isn’t always an option, so Nüwater offers the next best alternative.

The decision to include an ingenious plastic resealable lid on the can was a pragmatic one – research demonstrated that people were more likely to buy and use Nüwater if it could be easily carried around, rather than consumed in one go.

“Our feedback was that people favour convenience over everything, and a resealable, recyclable lid means you can carry Nüwater with you all day. Our cans are smaller than a bottle, lighter and unbreakable, so the ideal companion for when you’re on the go. We are still a product that champions sustainable water consumption and our product firmly meets our long-term sustainability goals,” says the CEO.

Not only does Nüwater hold sustainability as a core focus, but also altruism. The company has partnered with Project Maji; bringing sustainable access to safe water across rural sub-Saharan Africa through solar-powered water kiosks.

Nüwater was born out of the desire to combat the harmful impact that plastic bottles have on our environment today. With approximately 8 million tonnes of plastic ending up in the ocean every year, Nüwater is the UAE’s first alternative to plastic bottled water. Nüwater is sourced from a 500-meter deep artesian spring filtered by volcanic rock layers. The spring, which is located in the district of Vulkaneifel in Germany, is one of the deepest springs in the world. Nüwater is available to UAE consumers online on nuwater.life on Amazon and InstaShop.

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