Environmental management of an industrial sector: the case of Italian drinking water supply

The drinking waters industry is recording a growth rate three times superior compared with other beverage compartments, becoming a dominant market and moving conspicuous business. The growing interest towards this sector is the result of changing in eating habits and lifestyles that encourage the consumption of health and well being products. As a consequence, spring waters have become large consumption beverage, because of consumers consider them healthier than tap water, and they have caused the enlargement of packaging waste. The analysis of environmental issues of life cycle of a product, from cradle to grave illustrates the massive negative effects of this sector on the environment and social organization. The objective of this note, which is the first part of a wider research still in progress, is to analyze the most important considerations that have promoted the huge increase of consumption of bottled drinkable water reducing tap water utilization. Subsequently, applying the international methodology Material Flow Analysis (MFA), the authors investigate the sustainability of bottled and tap water sector from cradle to the consumption phase. The preliminary results allow proposing different industrial strategies, in particular as regard waste management.