Founded in 1995 as a family-run company focused on producing high-quality, environmentally responsible spring water, Ice River Sustainable Solutions subsequently turned its attention to the plastic footprint of the bottles used to market its product.
Starting in 2010, the company, headquartered in Shelburne, Ont., investigated ways to take polyethylene terephthalate (PET) purchased from the Ontario Blue Box program and transform it into new, fully recyclable bottles.
Ice River became the first beverage company in North America to build and operate its own recycling facility, producing bottles made from 100-per-cent recycled plastic. Over the past 15 years, this advancement has kept more than 700 million pounds of plastic out of the landfill.
“No one was doing this, and we were told it was impossible,” says Crystal Howe, director of sustainability, who is also the daughter of company co-founders Jamie and Sandy Gott. “But when you tell my dad something like that, he just says, ‘we will never take no for an answer’.”
In addition to packaging and delivering its own green-bottled brand, Ice River today partners with nearly every other private-label bottled water producer. “A lot of the bottled water sold in Canada now is contained in a 100-per-cent recycled bottle,” says Howe. “I like to think we were at the forefront of showing what is possible.”
The innovation continues. Recycling plastic bottle caps was a whole separate challenge, one Ice River ultimately solved by acquiring C.R. Plastic Products, a company based in Stratford, Ont., which is now using bottle caps recycled by Ice River to produce premium outdoor furniture.
In fact, Ice River is today a collection of eight companies that includes package manufacturing, transportation and even an organic farm (the original source of the spring water). It’s all part of an effort to create a circular economy that is entirely Canadian and keeps things local.
“We sell to Canadians, using raw materials collected from Canadians,” says Howe. “That’s a business benefit, as our supply chain is somewhat protected from variables such as the threat of tariffs.”
Internally, the company further promotes sustainability through initiatives like Operation Clean Sweep, which addresses potential on-site spills and plastic leakage, as well as efforts to avoid diverting any waste to landfill.
The company is also working aggressively to reduce its carbon footprint, something that sustainability program manager Marram Mohammad is helping to spearhead.
“I conducted a carbon analysis of our operations and came up with energy-efficiency projects to reduce our carbon footprint,” says Mohammad. “Our ownership and executive team took my recommendations and put real money behind it, and now I’m looking at bringing those projects to life.”
As a young person, Mohammad is grateful for the opportunity.
“I’m not even 30 years old and they are giving me a platform to make a real difference. It’s just refreshing to see that Ice River operates on a triple bottom line, focusing on people, planet and progress. They are demonstrating you can be a successful business while prioritizing the environment. You don’t have to sacrifice one for the other.”
Howe says the company’s mission is drawing in a lot of people like Mohammad.
“Over the last five years in particular, when I’ve been doing onboarding, I’ve heard how young people want to spend time at a job that’s going to make a positive impact for the environment. It’s definitely attracted some really great talent, and we are looking for more.”
Article Credit: theglobeandmail