Wood County Plant Builds Better Bottle
Published Apr 25, 2008
A lot of work goes into making a bottle of water.
In Wood County, Ozarka Spring Water gets one of life’s basic elements from the Piney Woods and Clear Springs, but the plastic bottle it uses has its own story.
Ozarka’s parent company, Nestle Waters North America, used the Wood County bottling facility to create a bottle that weighs an estimated 15 percent less than others on the market. The Eco-shape™ half liter bottle took two years to create; the company estimated the new container would save 65 million pounds of plastic resin each year.
Compared with the traditional plastic water bottle, the new version “is similarly shaped, almost crunchy, very lightweight, and a little bit elongated,” says company spokeswoman Catherine Herter.
Ozarka started bottling water in Texas in 1905 and launched its Wood County operations in December 2002.
From an initial $150 million investment, Ozarka quickly expanded, adding a $17 million, 200,000 square-foot addition in 2005.
The facility in Hawkins has seven bottling lines and employs nearly 300 people with what Herter calls an “above average” pay scale for the area of $14 to $20 an hour.
And Ozarka pours back its own investment into the future of the community.
For young people planning careers in environmental science, Ozarka provides $30,000 a year in scholarships, including two $2,500 awards to high school seniors in Wood County.
“One of the kids is now back working in the Quality Control Division,” Herter says.
The company also works with teachers, providing materials and technical help with water education programs.
When the company bought 1,450 acres just north of Hawkins to develop sources of spring water, it developed the bottling plant with the environment in mind, earning certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
Nestle bought Ozarka in 1987, and the company owns land with springs in Henderson and Walker counties in Texas. The Wood County plant last year bottled 62 million cases.
Story by Pamela Coyle
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