We have seen comments in the media and on social media about the proposals and we take these views seriously. We want to reassure everyone, especially our neighbours, of our focus on promoting biodiversity, the local environment and our commitment to supporting local amenity spaces.

Since we first started preparing these plans, we have hosted community meetings and run a public consultation, especially so we could listen to the community’s views. We understand how important protecting the local environment and amenity spaces is – and we share that view.

To develop our proposal we enlisted conservation experts to create a replanting scheme which ensures the conservation of the local environment. An independent ecologist also reviewed the site and identified how the replacement land and the landscaping of the existing site can provide a greater variety of habitats than that which currently exists. This means the plans for replacement of the woodland and habit will improve this value further.

Some of the key points of our proposal include:

– Replanting double the trees we remove to ensure long-term biodiversity between the remaining area of Rotary Wood and an ecologically adjacent site.

– Embedding a minimum 30-year plan to support the growth and development of the replanted and new trees, which will continue to be protected after that time by Tree Protection Orders.

– Enhance the local amenity space of Rotary Wood by improving drainage, landscaping, improving paths, installing play facilities or a trim trail and providing information boards.

– A commitment to bolstering more green space nearby by planting woodland, wildflower meadows and installing a pond to continue efforts to encourage local wildlife and biodiversity, with new habitats.

Every one of us at Harrogate Spring Water is immensely proud to fly the flag for our region and to help play a role in putting Harrogate onto a national and global platform. These proposals will play a role in allowing us to continue to do this and to further support the local and regional economy as an employer and through supporting our local supply chain.

Whatever the outcome of this planning application, we commit to continued dialogue with all those who have shared their views, to ensure that they are consulted about the landscaping of our site and any impact on Rotary Wood.

We are requesting this opportunity to extend our site in order to secure the long-term future of Harrogate Spring Water and to continue to provide award-winning naturally sourced water from Harrogate, honouring a heritage of 450 years. We know this means acting with real care and consideration towards the environment, and being responsible and inclusive in what we do at all times. We want to continue to have a positive impact in the area, including our long-standing commitment to the environment and our community, well into the future.

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Harrogate Water is proud to announce it has been accredited by the worldwide B Corp movement committed to building a more inclusive, greener and sustainable economy.

Becoming certified as a B Corporation goes beyond product or business performance indicators. B Corp measures a company’s entire social and environmental footprint and evaluates how business operations impact on colleagues, community, environment and customers in pursuit of sustainable growth.

B Corp is more than a snapshot of the here and now; qualifying organisations must commit to positive corporate social responsibility impact in the long term, incorporating transparency and accountability into the business from the shop floor to the boardroom.

Every B Corp organisation undergoes a rigorous business impact assessment, which is scored and published online. Worldwide, more than 3,000 companies have become B Corp accredited. This global movement of profit-with-purpose businesses, work for a healthier environment, social responsibility and the creation of high-quality employment. More than two hundred UK businesses have joined B Corp.

Harrogate Water CEO James Cain OBE said:

“We are proud to be the first company in North Yorkshire to have achieved B Corp accreditation and join a growing global family of inspiring businesses committed to effecting positive change.

“Care for the environment and social responsibility are in our DNA. Harrogate’s unique springs were first discovered in 1571 and we are proud to carry the baton for today’s generation, producing and bottling the most natural and healthiest beverage on the shelf.

“We operate from one of the world’s most environmentally efficient bottling plants. Harrogate Water is a global centre of excellence and a showcase for the bottled water industry. Our rapid growth in recent years has been achieved because of and not despite our commitment to sustainability and community involvement.

“With every step we take to improve our business performance, we seek to mitigate or improve our social and environmental footprint.

“B Corp accreditation validates our achievements but, more importantly, demonstrates our commitment and passion to sustainability and community involvement in the longer term. We look forward to more sustainable growth, benefiting all of our stakeholders, as part of the B Corp movement.”

In 2019, James Cain was named Director of the Year for Corporate and Social Responsibility by the Institute of Directors Yorkshire and North East.  In addition, Harrogate Water was awarded the Sustainability Partner of the Year award from UK foodservice giant Brakes.

Harrogate Water is a founder member of the Natural Source Waters Association (previously National Hydration Council) and is the first member of the association to become B Corp accredited. UK B Corp businesses include The Body Shop, Innocent Drinks and The Guardian. For more information about B Corp, visit www.bcorporation.co.uk

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Over 20,000 schools will be taking part in the project through the environmental charity’s Eco Schools programme. It is being supported by recycling partner Harrogate Water along with Plastipak, one of the global leaders in sustainable packaging and recycling.

Eco-Schools is a global programme engaging 19.5 million children across 67 countries, making it the largest educational programme in the world.

The Eco-Schools Programme is pupil-led, involving hands-on learning that gets the whole school and the wider community involved in exciting environmental projects.

Schools are provided with free resources to help them progress to the international Eco-Schools Green Flag award within 12 months of registration and Keep Britain Tidy provides additional assistance from a dedicated team of former teachers.

Richard McIlwain of Keep Britain Tidy said: “We are currently working with Harrogate Water and Plastipak on the new Waste and Recycling module. In 2019 ‘The Challenge’ will be a call to action for all participating schools to take part in a national survey assessing recycling in schools, finding out what waste management resources they have available as well as understanding local authority collections and recycling services.

“This National survey will be the first if its kind and will allow the schools to help advise on what they believe we should be doing to improve provision and help harmonise recycling services in schools across the country. The report will be published in an easy-to-use infographic format and made available to all relevant parties.

“This work by students will provide the springboard for the ‘Circular School 2020 Challenge’ when we’ll be encouraging schools to take an active role in coming up with sustainable waste management solutions.”

Kinza Sutton, Plastipak’s Head of Public Affairs and Sustainability Europe, said: “Plastipak and Harrogate Water are champions of the circular economy and we believe children can play a big part in shaping a sustainable future and challenging the misinformation and confusion around waste management and recycling.”

Harrogate Water Brand Manager Nicky Cain said: “The Eco-Schools project will promote discussion around waste, recycling and the circular economy in the classroom. We know that children are passionate about the environment and want to lead the way in making positive changes.

“This programme gives them the opportunity, not only to uncover the facts about packaging and recycling but to influence the way forward towards a more sustainable future.”

As part of the project, Harrogate Water and Plastipak will adding their expertise in recycling and recyclable packaging and producing a video showing the lifecycle of a bottle of Harrogate Spring. All content for the module will be approved by the Assessments and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) and feed into academic subjects, as well as linking into Global Citizenship as part of the National Curriculum.

All PET bottles of Harrogate Spring are 100 per cent recyclable and contain at least 50 per cent recycled content, processed and supplied by Plastipak. The recycled content is sourced solely from the UK to inform consumers that their bottle may return as a new bottle when it is recycled.

Harrogate Spring and Keep Britain Tidy are behind the Incredible Shrinking Bottle recycling initiative, urging consumers to recycle their PET bottles, with the message ‘Twist It. Cap It. Recycle It.’

Twisting the PET bottle to make it easy to shrink to a small size was the idea of Emily Eggleston, a pupil of Harrogate Grammar School. “We were playing with the bottle thinking of how best to crush it and found that twisting made it much easier and you can recycle more if you squash it,” she said.

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PHOTO: Eco students at Harrogate Grammar School, standing, Isabella Cornell-Codling and Josie Robinson, seated, Emily Eggleston, Anjali Arthur and Charlotte Carlyon

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Harrogate Water’s record of business success combined with strong CSR and community engagement has been recognised and commended by the Institute of Directors.

The man behind the achievement, CEO James Cain OBE, was rewarded for his outstanding leadership with the presentation of awards for Director of the Year SME and Director of the Year Corporate Social Responsibility by the IoD Yorkshire and North East.

In the past four years, Harrogate Water has doubled in size, increasing from £10m to £22m, cementing its position as the UK’s leading out-of-home bottled water brand and Number One British Premium bottled water.

Commenting on the accolades, the CEO said: “I’m incredibly proud to be part of the Northern Powerhouse and contributing towards the success of Yorkshire and the North East.”

Director of the Institute of Directors Yorkshire and the North East Natalie Sykes said: “The tremendous record of Harrogate Water under James Cain is a great example of the world class leadership we have in our region and demonstrates the extraordinary potential of the Northern Powerhouse to invigorate and strengthen the UK economy.”

Year on year, the company has vastly out-performed market growth for natural source bottled water. The workforce has grown by more than 50 per cent and exports have risen to a significant level.

The CEO has overseen multi-million-pound investments to create a centre of excellence and a global showcase for the bottled water industry. At the same time, Harrogate has been prominent in sustainable manufacturing and community engagement, partnering with Keep Britain Tidy in a nationwide recycling campaign and leading the industry in recyclability and the use of recycled materials.

The company has been zero to landfill for a decade, uses 50 per cent recycled content in its PET and glass bottles and campaigns with the environmental charity, urging consumers to ‘Twist it. Cap it. Recycle it’.

The company has raised more than £2.2 million for independent British charity Pump Aid, since launching its Thirsty Planet brand in 2007, helping provide communities in sub-Saharan Africa with improved sanitation and secure safe water sources.

The CEO added: “The awards reflect the contribution of the entire Harrogate Water team and the hard work of everybody across the business. We have successfully implemented a far-reaching investment programme and managed significant change to fulfil our vision to become the leading British independent choice for natural source bottled water.”

He added: “Care for the environment is in our DNA at Harrogate Water and so the award for CSR makes me particularly proud. Our successful market growth is because of and not despite our commitment to sustainability and community involvement.”

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The Betfred British Masters golf tournament is teaming up with Harrogate Spring Water to become a champion of recycling and a showcase for sustainability.

Since the revival of the British Masters on the European Tour five years ago, organisers have worked harder and harder to reduce plastic waste and the 2018 event was the most sustainable ever, with all PET bottles being collected for recycling.

This year’s event is hosted by Ryder Cup star Tommy Fleetwood at Hillside Golf, in Southport, from May 9-12, when there will once again be a strong focus on sustainability.

Rory Colville, Championship Director of the Betfred British Masters, said: “We are proud that our waste and recycling initiative has become a showcase for other events to follow.

“We have worked with Harrogate Water since 2015 and they are one of our longest standing partners. All their bottles, glass and PET, are 100 per cent recyclable and contain at least 50 per cent recycled material. All the recycled PET is UK sourced material. That’s great but it is only the start.

“The challenge is firstly having the facilities in place at such a big event as the Betfred British Masters and secondly, educating everyone, including competitors and spectators to use the onsite recycling facilities.

Around 100 dedicated bins will be installed to capture used PET bottles, which will be taken for recycling to Cleantech in Lincolnshire, a UK re-processor owned by Plastipak, which produces the food-grade recycled PET (rPET) used by Harrogate Water.

Nicky Cain of Harrogate Water said: “We have been a British Masters partner since its revival on the European Tour and have worked closely with the organisers to develop a sustainable waste strategy, while at the same time ensuring the elite golfers are properly hydrated.”

“Recycling is the here-and-now solution to avoiding waste and creating a sustainable circular economy. PET bottles are easily recyclable and should never go to landfill or incineration.

“Our switch to using more than 50 per cent recycled content in our PET bottles means a reduction of 1,250 tonnes of greenhouse emissions per year. This is why recycling is so important for the environment. We need to recycle more in order to move towards 100 per cent recycled content.

“We are proud to be involved in making the 2019 Betfred British Masters one of the most sustainable events in the sporting calendar and we will be back for the 2020 event too.”

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The company says it has intervened in the debate at the highest level to add balance and context to what it believes has become a one-sided argument against all plastic, including PET bottles which are easily recyclable, can be made efficiently from recyclable material and are proven to be one of the most environmentally friendly packaging solutions available.

Chief executive James Cain said: “Images of plastic pollution on our beaches and in our oceans are heart-breaking and no one can see them and remain unmoved. Longer term solutions must be investigated but recycling is the here-and-now solution that can help turn the tide on littering without turning back the clock on healthy beverage switching or the good jobs and careers provided by the bottled water industry up and down the country.”

Sales of bottled water overtook those of cola for the first time in 2017, demonstrating a trend towards switching to healthy drinking by consumers. The company is concerned that if consumers are dissuaded from buying bottled water, they will migrate back to bottled fizzy drinks and juices which contribute to high levels of obesity, diabetes and tooth decay.

Harrogate Spring is the UK’s oldest bottled water brand. Every bottle is 100 per cent recyclable and made using over 50 per cent recycled content (rPET). This is the highest level of rPET of any bottled water producer. The company is a partner of Keep Britain Tidy and is behind the Incredible Shrinking Bottle recycling campaign, encouraging consumers to ‘twist it, cap it, recycle it’.

The chief executive welcomed the opportunity to visit 10 Downing Street where he met with Sir John Randall, special adviser on the environment to Prime Minister Theresa May.

“It was a constructive meeting with Sir John and an opportunity to balance the debate on plastic. Bottled water is the healthiest drink on the shelf and evidence suggests that, even when tap water is available, many consumers prefer natural source bottled water because of its taste and provenance. People who choose bottled water see it as an alternative to unhealthy sugary drinks, not tap water. This is the crux of the issue. Demonising PET plastic and demonising water, the healthiest option, will undoubtedly lead to more unhealthy choices being made.”

The CEO told Sir John he worried that referring to plastic water bottles as ‘single-use’ was confusing for consumers, wrongly implying they could not be recycled, when in fact PET plastic water bottles were among the best examples of easily-recyclable plastic available. Plastic water bottles accounted for less than 20 per cent of discarded bottles and less than half a per cent of UK litter in total. Focusing on them disproportionately risked misleading the public, masking the need to tackle the abundance of difficult-to-recycle plastics and non-recyclable packaging.

“A plastic water bottle is not ‘single use’. Just like a glass bottle or aluminium can, it can be recycled almost infinitely, going on to become another bottle and achieving a truly circular economy, removing the need for virgin material. PET plastic is also the greenest packaging solution currently available, using less energy and producing fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than alternative packaging solutions.

“The problem is not the bottle, it is the lack of collection and street recycling facilities when on-the-go and an absence of clear and consistent messaging. Evidence from around the world suggests that deposit return schemes can greatly improve recycling rates but there is much more we can do here and now around messaging that bottles are not ‘single use’ and can be recycled again and again.

Harrogate is among many towns in the UK with mineral springs of great historic, cultural and economic importance. Natural source water has blossomed into a significant sector of the UK soft drinks market. Sales of bottled water represent 19 per cent market share, worth £2.4 billion to the economy (including imported bottled water).

Harrogate Water is the largest independent family-owned producer of natural sourced bottled water in Britain. The first mineral spring was discovered in Harrogate in 1571 by Queen Elizabeth’s physician who recommended the water for its medicinal properties. The town became the first British Spa town and attracted wealthy visitors from around the world, including members of the Russian royal family. Harrogate Water was first bottled in 1740, making it the original bottled water.

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It follows independent research, jointly commissioned by Keep Britain Tidy and Harrogate Water, which shows an overwhelming majority of bottled water consumers want to do the right thing and recycle more, as well as reduce litter.

Rather than simply disposing of bottles in street bins, ‘The Incredible Shrinking Bottle’ campaign encourages consumers to ‘twist it, cap it, recycle it’, making bottles small enough to carry to a recycling point or take home in a bag or pocket for recycling, using the established nationwide kerbside collection system.

Keep Britain Tidy chief executive Allison Ogden-Newton said: “This is a whole new approach to increase recycling of plastic bottles. The research revealed that, while 95 per cent of consumers are likely to recycle at home, this falls by more than half when they are out.

“It is often not possible to find a recycling point when away from home and most consumers simply use street bins, meaning bins become full of fresh air and bottles are destined for landfill or incineration. A PET plastic water bottle is one of the best examples of easily-recyclable packaging, with every part of the product 100 per cent recyclable and all can be disposed of together. It is easy to twist and shrink to a compact size to take home for recycling.”

Harrogate marketing manager Nicky Cain said: “All PET bottles of Harrogate Spring will carry The Incredible Shrinking Bottle logo with instructions to ‘twist it, cap it, recycle it’. The survey revealed that many people don’t realise the whole bottle, including cap and label, is 100 per cent recyclable and can be disposed of together. Capping means no mess and an empty bottle becomes incredibly compact and easy to carry, taking up minimal space in a recycling bin.

“Our bottles are right-weighted and the innovative diamond lattice design makes it significantly easier to crush. Once you have twisted and crushed a bottle, it becomes irresistible not to twist and crush another to see just how small you can make it.”

Nicky added: “Many respondents indicated they would be more likely to take home empty bottles for recycling if others were doing so and if it could be made engaging and fun. This has informed ‘The Incredible Shrinking Bottle’ campaign.”

The survey revealed:
* 90 per cent of bottled water consumers want to recycle more and say green issues are important to them.
* 78 per cent always recycle at home and 95 per cent are likely to recycle at home but only 41 per cent are likely to recycle when out and about.
* 94 per cent agree they are responsible for recycling when out and about.
* 61 per cent are more likely to take rubbish home if it can be easily compacted and 70 per cent if it doesn’t make a mess, as is the case with bottled water.
* 28 per cent are unclear that the whole bottle, including cap and label are 100 per cent recyclable.
* 41 per cent would be more likely to take bottles home if others were doing so too.
* 39 per cent would be more likely to take bottles home if it was engaging and fun.
* 94 per cent recognise Keep Britain Tidy and the Tidyman logo.
* 76 per cent agreed that a partnership between Harrogate Water and Keep Britain Tidy is a positive development for recycling.

Photo: James Cain launches campaign with Keep Britain Tidy chief executive Allison Ogden-Newton

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The partnership has three pillars:
* Bottles of both Harrogate Spring and Thirsty Planet water will display the newly-redesigned Tidyman logo, the world’s most famous environmental symbol.
* Harrogate Water is a primary sponsor of the national Great British Spring Clean campaign from March 3-5 and bottles of Harrogate Spring will display the Great British Spring Clean logo.
* In conjunction with Keep Britain Tidy, Harrogate Water will commission independent research which will inform a targeted recycling campaign to interact with consumers in a more engaging way.

The company wants to understand and help influence consumer behaviour around the recycling of plastic bottles.

Harrogate marketing manager Nicky Cain said: “We are pleased to announce our support for Keep Britain Tidy and are particularly proud of the opportunity to display the Tidyman logo.

“We support the urgent call to action by HRH The Prince of Wales who has asked businesses to play their part in creating a circular economy, to maximise recycling and minimise waste.

“The public has shown a desire to recycle and nearly 60 per cent of all PET plastic bottles are recycled. However, we can and must do better. We are determined to play our part in encouraging consumers to keep up momentum towards far higher recycling rates.”

Keep Britain Tidy chief executive Allison Ogden-Newton said: “We are always delighted to partner with like-minded organisations which care for the environment and we greatly appreciate the support of Harrogate Water. We look forward to working closely with them to influence consumer attitudes and encourage more recycling.”

Harrogate Water operates from one of the most environmentally efficient facilities in the UK; all its plastic and glass bottles are 100 per cent recyclable and none of the company’s waste goes to landfill.

The initiative has the support of Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, who said: “Harrogate Water has chosen to partner with Keep Britain Tidy, which is one of Britain’s most iconic and effective environmental charities. This is an entirely commendable move and I applaud them for taking this initiative.”

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