Most companies that have made sustainability commitments have identified the obvious plastic sources: packaging, disposable tableware, single-use items at events. The water service is rarely on the initial list, and that is a problem, because for the average office, the water program generates more plastic than most people realize once all the categories are counted.
This guide covers how to do a complete hydration plastic audit, what the full elimination looks like, and how to track and communicate the results in a way that is useful for internal reporting and ESG disclosures.
The Plastic You've Stopped Seeing
Five-gallon jugs are the most visible piece, but they are not the only one. A complete accounting of plastic in a typical office hydration program includes:
The jug delivery cycle. Each five-gallon jug is made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and circulates between use and pickup until it is retired. Retired jugs enter the waste stream. For an office of 30 people, a reasonable estimate is two to four jug deliveries per week, or roughly 100 to 200 jugs per year.
Individual bottled water for meetings, events, and conference rooms. These are single-use polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. The EPA reports an 8.7% overall plastics recycling rate in the United States, with PET bottles reaching 29.1%. Even at the higher PET rate, roughly 7 of every 10 bottles ordered for a meeting ends up in a landfill.
Sparkling water and electrolyte drinks. These typically arrive in aluminum cans or plastic bottles. For companies that stock a break room with canned sparkling water or individual electrolyte pouches and bottles, this is a category that adds up quietly across a full year.
Disposable cups. If the water dispensing setup relies on single-use paper or plastic cups, that material is part of the plastic and waste footprint even if it is not made of rigid plastic.
The Audit: Counting What You Have
A useful hydration plastic audit answers four questions: how many jugs or plastic bottles flow through the building per month, what is their combined weight, how many end up recycled versus landfilled, and what categories are currently unaddressed.
Start with the water delivery invoice. Most jug delivery services itemize deliveries, making it straightforward to calculate annual jug volume. Multiply the jug count by the approximate weight of an empty five-gallon HDPE jug (about 1.6 pounds) to get the annual weight of plastic generated by the water service alone.
Then account for individual bottles purchased through a cafeteria, catering orders, or a standing office supply order. A case of 24 half-liter PET bottles weighs roughly 1.2 pounds in plastic. Multiply annual case orders by that figure.
Finally, count the sparkling water and electrolyte category. The answer here often surprises facilities and office managers: a break room that stocks a case of canned sparkling water per week generates roughly 52 cases of aluminum and packaging per year.
The audit total gives you a baseline. It is the number you are working to reduce and, eventually, report.
Eliminating the Jug Service
Replacing jug delivery with a floor-standing bottleless water purification system connected to the building's water line is the single highest-impact change available in the hydration program. It eliminates the full jug plastic cycle: no new jugs are manufactured for your account, no jugs are delivered, no empty jugs are picked up, and none are retired to the waste stream.
The purification system dispenses chilled, ambient, or hot purified water on demand. Purification system maintenance is handled by a local technician on a routine service schedule, with no packaging or delivery logistics involved.
For buildings that want both still and sparkling water without any bottles or cans, the KUPA Station connects directly to the water line and delivers chilled or ambient sparkling water, still purified water, and electrolyte-enhanced water from a single unit. It eliminates the sparkling water and electrolyte packaging categories entirely. For companies that have already eliminated jug delivery, the KUPA Station is typically the next gap to close.
Setting Reduction Goals and Tracking Progress
Once the baseline audit is complete, setting a reduction target is straightforward. The goal is typically full elimination of the categories that a point-of-use system can replace, with a date attached.
For a phased approach: month one, replace the jug delivery service with a bottleless purification system. Month three, replace the canned or bottled sparkling water with a KUPA Station. Month six, eliminate individual bottled water for meetings by ensuring the dispensing system is accessible to meeting rooms and providing reusable vessel options.
Track the metric monthly: jug deliveries at zero, sparkling water cans and bottles at zero, individual bottled water purchases trending toward zero. At year end, the total weight of plastic eliminated is the annual reduction figure. For companies reporting under the Global Reporting Initiative's GRI 306 (Waste) standard, this number belongs in the waste generated and diverted category.
Communicating the result internally is straightforward: total plastic eliminated in the first year, expressed in pounds, is a concrete number that resonates with employees, leadership, and external stakeholders alike. Bottleless Nation has eliminated more than 656 million bottles across its installed systems working toward a goal of 1 billion. An individual business contributes to that total and can document its share.
Bottleless Nation operates across 33 markets in the United States. For the full strategic context on sustainability reporting and how the hydration program fits into ESG disclosures, the Plastic-Free Business Hydration guide covers the disclosure frameworks and elimination strategy in full.
Talk to our team about reducing plastic waste in your office.
Related Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Where should a business start when trying to reduce office plastic waste?
Start with the water service. It is usually the largest single source of recurring plastic in an office that does not involve product packaging. Replacing jug delivery with a bottleless purification system eliminates a continuous plastic cycle in a single change. From there, audit sparkling water and individual bottled water as the next categories to address.
Does the KUPA Station require a separate water line connection?
The KUPA Station connects directly to the building's water line, the same as a standard bottleless water purification system. It does not require separate bottled or canister inputs for sparkling water or electrolytes. A service technician handles the installation and routine maintenance.
Can we track plastic eliminated for ESG reporting purposes?
Yes. Plastic eliminated from the hydration program is reportable under the Global Reporting Initiative's GRI 306 (Waste) standard, which covers waste generated, diverted from disposal, and directed to disposal. Jug weight eliminated and individual bottle count eliminated are both quantifiable and auditable metrics. The data comes directly from delivery invoices: jug deliveries at zero means zero plastic generated in that category.
What about the cups used at the water dispenser?
Disposable cup programs add to the waste footprint even when the water itself is delivered sustainably. Transitioning to reusable vessels and removing cup dispensers from the units is the complete solution. Some offices pair this with a cup-free policy for break room water and provide each employee with a reusable bottle as part of the transition communication.