FAQs | Answers About Belu Water, Filtration & Our Purpose Skip to content Frequently Asked Questions If you’re after a quick answer to something, take a look at our FAQs. Have a browse and if you’re still wondering why not get in touch Where can I buy Belu? Wholesale: You can buy Belu for your business from one of our 70 wholesale partners across the UK. Use our handy tool here to find a wholesaler in your area. If you’re a wholesale business wishing to stock Belu, please email hello@belu.org Where can I buy Belu Water Coolers? 18.9L water coolers available to buy within the M25 from our partner, Zepbrook Where does your mineral water come from? Our beautiful Great British mineral water is sourced from an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Churchstoke, Powys, Wales. Discover more. Do you offer bottle collection schemes? We don’t run a bottle return scheme in order to keep our carbon footprint to a minimum. The second biggest contributor to our carbon footprint is bottle distribution so adding more trucks on the road to collect used bottles doesn’t make sense for us. We source the recycled glass and plastic of our bottles from the UK recycling industry. Our bottles are 100% recyclable. We encourage our trade customers and consumers to recycle. What is the difference between Mineral water and Spring water? This is what sets mineral water apart from spring water by law: – Mineral water must come from an officially recognised underground water source, whereas spring water can be from any underground source. – Mineral water’s chemical and mineral composition must be stable over time and its original purity must be preserved, whereas spring water composition does not have to be stable over time. – Mineral water can only be subject to very limited treatment and cannot be chemically treated under any circumstances. – Mineral water must be bottled at source, whereas spring waters come from a natural source but are bottled off-site, processed and purified. – Mineral water will state the named source on the bottle. – It is a requirement to label natural mineral water with a statement of analytical composition, indicating the characteristic constituents of the water, whereas there is no requirement for spring waters to display this statement. – Mineral water sources undergo two-years of microbiological testing. More information available from the Gov.uk website Why don’t you make bottles from bio plastic/ corn starch/PLA anymore? In the very early days of Belu we made and sold a corn based (PLA) bio-bottle with the right intentions to reduce the amount of plastic being used however the recycling industry complained of its ‘polluting’ effect on the waste process. Unless contained on the site of sale and professionally processed, bio-plastic still faces the same issues as all plastics – it won’t biodegrade fast enough to avoid causing pollution in our oceans if it isn’t processed through recycling infrastructure. Instead, we focused on maximising the use of recycled content in our packaging, to utilising smart design in order to use as little of it as possible, and to minimising the transport footprint of the materials by using only UK made raw materials. Why is the recycled content of your bottle packaging different across your product range? Because glass recycling in the UK is not generally sorted by colour, it’s harder to add recycled content to clear bottles as they become discoloured. That’s why our clear glass range has a minimum recycled content of 35%, yet our green glass range can have a minimum recycled content of 70%, because it’s a darker bottle. From 2012, our plastic bottle range has been made with at least 50% recycled plastic, leading the UK bottled water market.  Read more about our environmental initiatives here. If you’re an environmental brand – why do you sell plastic bottles? As demand from our customers increased for plastic formats, usually in situations where for safety or practical reasons glass isn’t an option, we decided the most ethical position to take was that of championing plastic waste as a valuable resource. From 2012, our plastic bottle range has been made with at least 50% recycled plastic, leading the UK bottled water market. Our position on supplying plastic bottles recognises that until a viable and sustainable alternative option exists (and we continue to invest here), there will be occasions where plastic packaged product is still required. We continue to strive to increase the recycled content of our bottles and mainly use recycled content from used plastic bottles. We encourage people to buy less water, but when you do choose Belu. Why does Belu use plastic case wrap for deliveries? Our deliveries are packaged primarily in materials our bottling partner uses for domestic shipments which work with their line capability. We currently use 30% recycled material in our case wrap for all Belu products and for our glass bottles we include a padded layer of cardboard to provide stability and protection. We will increase the amount of recycled content further as appropriate material becomes available but currently do not have plans to change to another material. We try to minimise the amount of packaging used for all products but we need tough materials that won’t break as they travel through our supply chain and out to customers. We have looked into using cardboard outer casing but are mindful that cardboard production is very water and energy intensive. Plastic crates are another option we have explored, however these tend to be used in European countries where infrastructure already exists to maximise efficiency and recyclability whilst minimising environmental impact. The UK does not have such infrastructure available yet. There are also additional costs associated with new packaging options, which is something we are keen to mitigate the impact of after the difficult period the hospitality industry has had in the last couple of years. We will keep researching alternative materials and are always keen to hear about innovative ways to improve our packaging. Why can’t I buy Belu Mineral Water from outside the UK? Local, ethical sourcing and development isn’t easy by any means. For that reason, once our beautiful, ethical products are made, we would never dream of creating unnecessary carbon footprint by exporting them. How can you give 100% of your profit to charity? Net profit represents the earnings after all operating expenses, interest and taxes have been deducted from a company’s total revenue. Or more simply: Total Revenue – Total Expenses = Net Profit Read more about our partnership with WaterAid and why we partner with them here. What does it mean to be a social enterprise? Social enterprises are businesses that are changing the world for the better. Like traditional businesses, they aim to make a profit. It’s what they do with their profits that sets them apart – reinvesting or donating the majority of their profits to create positive social change. Belu is a business, not a charity, with 100% of our revenues comes from trading alone. To be a registered social enterprise, a company needs to be asset locked. It means that the profits or sale of our business can only go towards helping those in water poverty. Can Belu sponsor my event with water? Here at Belu we give 100% of our profits to our exclusive charity partner, WaterAid. We’re often unable to support other charities or organisations with free of charge water as this would mean less of our profit given to WaterAid. Find out how to buy Belu for your event here. Is Belu carbon neutral? In 2012 we were PAS 2060 certified for carbon neutrality and followed that framework for 10 years, tracking our supply chain and organisational footprint across all products and processes – and supporting various carbon offset projects along the way. Last year, agreeing with a report from WWF and Boston Consulting Group, we changed our approach to Carbon Management. We felt that buying international carbon credits to offset remaining emissions was not the right way to go. So now we invest in nature-based solutions to support UK water stewardship and regeneration projects. We’re focussed on a zero carbon future and have made a commitment through the SBTI (Science based Targets Initiative) to reduce scope 1 and scope 2 GHG emissions by 46% by 2030 (from 2019 base year) and to measure and reduce scope 3 emissions. This is in alignment with the 1.5 degree climate pledge from the Paris Agreement. I’d like to work for Belu We always advertise any job vacancies on our social media. Follow us @BeluWater on and so you don’t miss out. I’m researching Belu for my school/university project. What information can you give me? The absolute best source of information is our Impact Report published every year in March. It contains all the information you will find on our website, plus case studies on some our customers, Belu Water Stories and environmental projects. We’re a small team, so unfortunately we’re often unable to conduct individual interviews. 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