We are not claiming to be sustainable. We're working towards it.
Sustainability isn’t old news. Although, in our case, it kind of actually is. For example, we’ve been collecting and recycling our household water filter cartridges for more than 30 years. And over 10 years ago, we started using renewable electricity. In 2025, 92% of our global electricity used comes from renewable sources. At BRITA, sustainability played a part in what we do long before the term became a buzzword. Because we want to take responsibility. For our products. For the environment. For people.
The irony: when small advantages make big disadvantages easy to forget.
Affordable, lightweight, easy to shape and long‑lasting – plastic has many advantages. That's why we use it in our products. But it also has obvious disadvantages. Because plastic typically lasts far longer than its actual use. And without proper handling, it too often ends up in the environment. There is an easy way you can help reduce plastic waste – by filtering your tap water with BRITA and no longer buying single-use plastic water bottles. It's a step in the right direction.
But sustainability goes far beyond reducing or avoiding plastic. We are
taking action in many different ways. You can read more about it on this page
- and in full detail in our latest sustainability report.
The most important step? Always the first.
6 billion plastic bottles were avoided in 2025 because people around the world chose BRITA filtered water instead of bottles. And this is only the beginning. We keep pushing for better - in areas that are most relevant to us: Recycling. Materials. Packaging. Emissions. And people.
Recycling
Plastics are lightweight, easy to shape and, for now, still essential – both in our water filter cartridges for home use and for business customers. And because we can't live without them (just yet), we focus on reusing materials or making them available for high‑quality recycling. We began collecting and recycling our water filter cartridges back in 1992. Today, recovered materials, such as ion exchange resin, carbon or plastics, are either reused in our own products or recycled and returned to the material cycle if technically feasible.
Materials and packaging
We’ve always packaged our products according to a simple principle: as little as possible, as much as necessary. Still, we’re committed to continuous improvement. That's why we work on eliminating or reducing the amount of packaging and ensuring good recyclability - by designing packaging so materials can easily be separated. As much as possible we try to avoid plastic in packaging altogether. And we want our products themselves to evolve and become more sustainable when looking at the complete product lifecycle. For example by using innovative materials to reduce our dependency on fossil-based plastics.
Emissions
Since 2015 we're calculating our company carbon footprint according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Standard. The carbon footprint does not just focus on our own business operations, but includes all value chain emissions - from raw materials to employee commuting. This helps us understand where most of our emissions come from and how we can reduce them effectively. Because reducing our carbon footprint is one way we can contribute to limit global warming and climate change.
You can learn more about our climate action in our Sustainability Report.
Sustainability. It's not just about the planet.
Social aspects such as fair pay, safe working conditions and gender equality are also a part of sustainability. And just like we care about the planet, we care about people. Trust and respect are two of our corporate values. We embrace diversity and well-being as part of our culture so that everyone can be their authentic self and contribute their best. Our Code of Conduct and other policies helps us live up to our corporate responsibility and respond appropriately to ethical and legal issues.
You can find out more about what we do to safeguard human rights both within BRITA but also in our supply chain in our Sustainability Report or on Compliance page.
Downloads
Still curious? Download relevant policies and documents here.