Bluewater helps world’s top major global golf championship call time on single-use plastic bottles

Stockholm, Sweden, June 5, 2019 – Bluewater has joined forces with one of the world’s top major sporting events to blaze a new victory in the worldwide campaign against using single-use plastic bottles and halt their ecologically damaging impact on the planet.

The R&A, organisers of The Open Championship, will leverage Bluewater’s position as a global innovator in drinking water technologies and solutions to provide The 148th Open being staged at Royal Portrush, Northern Ireland, unique water stations and unique reusable stainless steel bottles to enable hundreds of thousands of visitors, players, staff and officials to enjoy on-demand fresh water without needing a plastic bottle.

“We applaud the initiative by The R&A to make The Open in Royal Portrush one of the first major global sporting events to remove single-use plastic water bottles,” said Anders Jacobson, co-founder and CEO of Blue, the impact-led investment company owning Stockholm-based Bluewater.

The Open Water initiative is geared to tackle marine plastic pollution and has won the endorsement of UN Environment’s global Clean Seas campaign.

Some 5,000 special edition BPA-free refillable stainless steel Bluewater water bottles will be given to fans free of charge during the week of The Open – and the bottles will also be on sale throughout the venue.

Additionally, all golfers competing in The Open will be given a personalised Players’ Edition stainless steel Bluewater water bottle with their name laser-engraved on it.

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “The Open has a close relationship with nature and the coastal system of the world’s finest links courses and it is important that we safeguard them for future generations.

“We have all learned so much of the destructive impact of plastic in the world’s oceans and we believe we have to take steps to remove all single-use plastic water bottles from The Open in order to encourage fans and players to use alternative and more sustainable materials.”

Anders Jacobson said: “The unique Bluewater purification technology and ecologically friendly 100% reusable bottles deliver solutions to mindful event organisers globally who want to purify and dispense water at the point of consumption to eliminate both the need for single-use plastic bottles and their polluting transportation.”

Notes to Editors

The Open

The 148^th Open will be played at Royal Portrush from 14-21 July 2019.

The Open is golf’s original championship. Played since 1860 on iconic links golf courses, it is the sport’s most international Major Championship with qualifying events on every continent.

UN Environment

UN Environment launched Clean Seas (#CleanSeas on social media) in February 2017, to engage governments, the general public and the private sector in the fight against marine plastic pollution. The campaign addresses the root-cause of marine litter by targeting the production and consumption of non-recoverable and single-use plastic. Learn more at: https://www.cleanseas.org/

Bluewater Technology

The Bluewater water purifiers used in the water stations are powered by Bluewater’s patented SuperiorOsmosis™ water purification system. A second-generation reverse osmosis technology, SuperiorOsmosis™ removes contaminants such as toxic metals, chemicals, viruses and micro-organic substances down to 0.0001 microns (a human red blood cell is about 5 microns across). The Bluewater technology delivers a unique engineering solution that ensures the membrane is continuously washed while in use to increase filtration efficiency, reduce water wastage, boost operating capacity and deliver a long service life.

For more information, please contact David Noble, PR & Communications Director, at david.noble@bluewatergroup.com or +44 7785 302 694

Bluewater, which is a signatory of the UN Clean Seas initiative, was honored in 2019 with two Fast Company World Changing Ideas Awards and a 2019 K&B Kitchen Innovation of the Year Award. www.bluewatergroup.com