How do I dispose of a soulbottle drinking bottle properly?
We wish all soulbottles a long and fulfilling life. That's why you can easily replace all the individual parts and, ideally, save your soulmate before buying a new drinking bottle. Sometimes, however, no amount of repairs helps, and a soulbottle must be discarded with a heavy heart. We asked ourselves what happens to the individual parts after that? How can we ensure that the materials can be recycled again? To do this, they must be disposed of properly. You can find out how here.
sustainable from start to finish
When they founded soulbottles, Georg and Paul had one goal: to produce sustainable and stylish drinking bottles that would encourage people to consume tap water. They quickly realized that a lot of consideration is required for a product to be truly environmentally friendly . This starts with the choice of raw materials, continues with production, and finally ends with the question of how a product is actually disposed of . A plastic bottle in the ocean, for example, takes 450 years to decompose – and even then, it pollutes important ecosystems in the form of microplastics.
Soulbottles are made from natural raw materials such as glass , stainless steel , ceramic , and natural rubber . When processing these materials, we strive to conserve resources as much as possible. For example, a soulbottle is made from up to 80% recycled glass , and our glass supplier uses biomethane as an energy source .
Our products should not only be produced as sustainably as possible, but also be used for as long as possible. A long product lifespan helps conserve resources and energy . A soulbottle can be disassembled into its individual components in just a few simple steps: bottle body , lid , sealing ring , and carrying handle . This allows all parts to be easily replaced. So, before you have to part with your beloved soulmate, there's a good chance you can easily repair it with a spare part .
we asked you
We wanted to know exactly: How long have soulbottles users had their soulmate by their side? How often have parts needed replacing? Have parts ever had to be disposed of? Our survey revealed:
Our users have owned their longest-serving soulbottle for an average of 2.31 years.
53% have never had to throw away a soulbottles drinking bottle .
46% have disposed of a glass soulbottle or part of it.
1% have disposed of a stainless steel soulbottle or part of it.
We also asked how exactly the parts were disposed of. This allows us to calculate the ecological footprint of a soulbottle after disposal. We'll spare you the exact numbers here, but what we do share is what exactly goes where. Because if the individual parts are disposed of properly, they can flow back into the circular economy and be reused over and over again.
what goes where?
Packaging → off to the recycling center
Glass body → belongs in the glass recycling
Sealing ring → goes into the residual waste
Stainless steel handle → into the recycling bin or to the recycling center
Ceramic lid→ residual waste or construction waste at the recycling center
Stainless steel bottle body and stainless steel lid → into the recycling bin or to the recycling center
What is the difference between the yellow bag, the yellow bin and a recycling bin?
The yellow bag and the yellow bin are the same thing. You can use them to dispose of packaging waste made of plastic , tinplate , aluminum , composite packaging (such as beverage cartons), and mixed materials (such as bread roll bags). Incidentally, the costs for the yellow bag or the bin of the same color are borne by manufacturers, who thereby fulfill their obligation to ensure that their packaging ends up in the recycling system. Therefore, only packaging is allowed in them, not everyday items such as plastic bowls, pans, or stainless steel soul bottles. Violators can even be fined.
Recycling bins, in contrast, are organized by municipalities and accept anything that can be recycled , not just packaging . As mentioned above, this includes plastic, tinplate, aluminum, composite packaging, and mixed materials. You can also add everyday items made of the same material, such as the handle of a soulbottle. You can find out whether your yard has a yellow bin or a recycling bin on your municipality's website. If you don't have a recycling bin, the stainless steel parts of a soulbottle must be taken to the recycling center.
Why can't the sealing ring be thrown in the organic waste?
Our sealing rings ensure that your soulbottle is 100% leak-proof. They're made entirely from natural rubber, without any plastic or chemicals. This also means they're completely biodegradable . So why shouldn't they go in your organic waste bin? Organic waste is turned into either biogas or organic compost, and there's a set time for this production process. To make compost, the organic waste is usually stored for four to six weeks in an airtight space at elevated temperatures to speed up the process. However, our rubber seal takes more than six weeks to decompose and would therefore be more of a hindrance than a help. That's why it belongs in the residual waste, not the organic waste bin.
Which glass recycling container does the soulbottle belong in?
The glass body of a soulbottle belongs in the recycling bin. More specifically, in the white glass , because separating the different colors is important for the recycling process. Apparently, there's a persistent rumor that it doesn't matter whether glasses are sorted by color. The glass containers are emptied by the same vehicle, which apparently fills the white, brown, and green glass into one container. After hours of online research, I can now assure you that although everything is loaded into one vehicle, there are separate compartments to separate the colored glass shards. The more often green or brown glass is added to the white glass, the more opaque the white glass becomes . So, unless we want to end up with green soul bottles, we'll have to continue sorting our old glass by color.
But soulbottles are colorful, right?
Okay, okay, above I explain in rather long detail how important it is to only throw clear glass into the clear glass recycling bin. And soulbottles have beautiful, colorful designs on them... Will they then contaminate the recycling process? Don't worry, the color of our designs doesn't interfere with the process. When the broken glass is melted, the color dissolves and is filtered out. So, the body of the soulbottles glass drinking bottle can be recycled into clear glass without any problems.
So all glasses can go into the glass recycling container?
There is one more peculiarity, however: Some types of glass are treated to make them heat-resistant. These are not allowed in the glass recycling container because they survive melting, having been produced specifically for this purpose. These include light bulbs and borosilicate glass, which is used to make test tubes, for example. Incidentally, light bulbs belong in the general waste.
With this in mind, we wish all soulbottles users a long and intimate relationship with their soulbottle and when it does come to an end: Happy Recycling!
