Cotton On Group is set to replace all of its single use plastic water bottles in its Australian stores with the country's first resealable aluminium bottled water.
The 70% recycled aluminium packaging is the first of its kind in Australia and is infinitely recyclable without material loss.
According to National Geographic, over a million plastic beverage bottles were purchased every minute worldwide in 2017, amounting to 525.6 billion bottles per year.
According to Cotton On, the introduction of the aluminium bottle will save 40 tonnes of plastic per year in Australia.
Cotton On Foundation GM Tim Diamond said that the new bottle benefits the world in more ways than one.
"At Cotton On Foundation, we want to create a better world for the next generation.
"One simple step to do this is on a personal level is to always have your own reusable water bottle, but when you’re caught out and didn’t bring one, we now provide our customers with a bottle that’s not only better for the environment but changes lives… encouraging a world without single use plastic," he said.
As is standard practice with the Cotton On Foundation's items, 100% of proceeds of sales of the aluminium bottled water will contribute to quality education projects in Uganda, South Africa, Thailand and Australia.
Cotton On Foundation head of product Jade Slater added that the mission to replace its plastic bottles has been years in the making.
"An iconic product in the Cotton On Foundation range, to date, our water bottle has raised a significant amount of funds that have contributed to our global education programs.
"We’ve been on a journey over the past few years and our customers and team members have challenged us to find a more sustainable water bottle.
"Aluminium, with its high rate of recyclability has definitely been welcomed by customers and team members alike," she said.
Across Australia, 91% of Australian households have access to kerbside recycling that accepts aluminium cans with 70% of cans making it to a recycling facility.