Bottled water will no longer have neck seals beginning this week, according to the new decision passed by the bottlers' association.

To be effective on July 23, 2019, the decision was made by Ethiopian Bottled Water & Soft Drinks Manufacturing Industries Association with the main aim of saving foreign currency and to curtail the negative impact of plastic on the environment.

“The packaging is very small, making it difficult to be collected and easily recycled," said Getnet Belay, chairperson of the Association, which was legally formed in April 2018 with 33 founding members.

Ahead of the new decision, the Association conducted a detailed study on the effect of neck seal packaging with bottlers, the Environment & Climate Change Commission and consumers, according to Getnet.

The study focused on the health, economic and environmental issues arising from the use of neck seals.

Before announcing the final decision, the Association received approval from the Food & Drugs Administration (FDA), the Food, Beverage & Pharmaceutical Industry Development Institute, the Ministry of Trade & Industry and the Ethiopian Standardization Agency (ESA).

While approving the decision, the FDA and ESA stated that the seal does not contribute to the health and safety or the quality of the product, but instead has a negative impact on the environment. They also noted that the seal is not commonly used in other countries, nor is it mandatory under Ethiopia’s standardisation rule.

"Neck seal packaging is a tradition carried over from pioneer water companies," said Getnet, "but it can't be a measurement for standard or quality."

The 85 water bottlers each spend between 40,000 dollars and 50,000 dollars on a yearly basis to import neck seal packages depending on their production capacity. They also incur additional labour costs for the application process. The nation spends 3.5 million dollars to four million dollars a year to import neck seal products.

"Ethiopia is the only country that uses neck seals on the packaging," said Solomon Tadele, director-general of the Food, Beverage & Pharmaceutical Industry Development Institute.