The 2023 Volvo China Open golf tournament, hosted at the picturesque Shenzhen Hidden Grace Golf Club, delivered a clear message of purpose. This year’s event, China’s longest-running and largest golf tournament, took a significant step towards sustainability by discontinuing the sale of single-use plastic bottles on the premises. Bluewater, a global leader in providing innovative refill stations for events, played a vital role in this eco-friendly initiative.
A total of 17 Bluewater stations were strategically placed throughout the Volvo China Open venue to offer complimentary purified drinking water to players, tens of thousands of spectators, and event staff. These stations harnessed Bluewater’s cutting-edge SuperiorOsmosisTM technology, ensuring the water provided was free from known contaminants, including toxic metals, chemicals, and microplastic particles.
Zhao Qin, Chairperson of the Volvo China Open, highlighted the shared environmental and sustainability values of Volvo and Bluewater, both originating from Sweden. She emphasised Volvo’s commitment to doing what’s right for the environment, and expressed the intention to continue setting new standards for environmental protection in future events.
During a press conference, Ms. Zhao Qin was joined by Bluewater China General Manager, Steven Tan, who expressed the company’s pride in assisting Volvo in making the tournament more sustainable. This move marked the first-ever golf event in China to eliminate plastic bottles in favor of a greener future.
Mr. Tan stated, “The Bluewater activity at the Volvo China Open builds on our experience delivering a sustainable water ecosphere with the likes of The Open and AIG Women’s Open golf tournaments in the UK over the past few years. It fully aligns with our sustainability mission to innovate hydration technologies and beverages that allow consumers and businesses to generate pure water at the point of use and thereby avoid the need for single-use plastic bottles and their polluting production and transportation.”
Throughout the tournament, Bluewater reusable bottles were available for purchase at fan-friendly prices, catering to those who didn’t bring their own bottles and providing a branded souvenir option for attendees.
The engagement with the Volvo China Open followed Bluewater’s recent appointment as the Official Hydration Supplier for the St Andrews Links Trust in Scotland, reinforcing its commitment to providing purified drinking water through refill stations while phasing out single-use plastic bottles.
Bengt Rittri, Bluewater’s Founder and CEO, emphasised the company’s mission to empower event organisers to reduce the sale of single-use plastic bottles and contribute to a healthier planet. Mr. Rittri noted that Bluewater has invested in innovative technologies that allow consumers and businesses to access healthier drinking water directly from the tap, free from all known contaminants.
“Our growing cooperation with major corporate brands in the events space underlines their commitment to challenging the stranglehold of single-use plastic bottles with smart hydration alternatives, changing the way we consume water because the hard truth is that such plastics pose a tangible threat to planetary and human health,” Mr. Rittri added, highlighting the tangible threat that such plastics pose to planetary and human health.
For updates on Bluewater products and planet-friendly initiatives, as well as event appearances worldwide, follow Bluewater’s social media channels on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and WeChat (Search ID: Bluewater). Join the movement towards a sustainable future with Bluewater.
