• Highland Spring Group to deploy Altruistiq’s product footprinting platform across its operations until 2028.
• Agreement will enable real-time cradle-to-gate carbon data for hundreds of SKUs, strengthening regulatory compliance and investment decisions.
• Partnership aligns with the UK’s evolving circular economy policies, including the upcoming Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).

UK Bottler Advances Carbon Transparency with Digital Tracking

Highland Spring Group, one of the UK’s largest producers of natural source waters, has entered a three-year agreement with sustainability data firm Altruistiq to deliver advanced product carbon footprinting across its operations.

The contract, effective from June 2025 through June 2028, will see Highland Spring deploy Altruistiq’s Product Footprinting module to calculate cradle-to-gate emissions for hundreds of its product lines. The system integrates live data streams, enabling the company to measure and manage the carbon intensity of its operations in real time.

Highland Spring, known for its bottled water brands distributed nationwide, aims to establish a comprehensive emissions baseline through the platform. This will inform procurement, packaging, and investment strategies, ensuring that sustainability metrics become central to daily decision-making and long-term planning.

Real-Time Data for Regulatory Readiness

The initiative comes as UK beverage producers prepare for the launch of the Deposit Return Scheme, part of the government’s circular economy agenda designed to increase recycling and reduce waste. By integrating Altruistiq’s system, Highland Spring expects to strengthen compliance with DRS and emerging product-level disclosure requirements under UK and EU sustainability frameworks.

Altruistiq’s technology provides ISO-assured carbon accounting and modelling capabilities, allowing companies to dynamically assess the impact of packaging, logistics, and supply chain adjustments. This functionality supports both internal governance and external reporting, helping companies demonstrate verifiable progress toward net zero targets.

“Partnering with Highland Spring Group allows us to embed dynamic product footprinting into operational decision-making,” said Imogen Hammond-Williams, Enterprise Account Executive at Altruistiq. “Our platform replaces one-off assessments with continuous emissions modelling at scale, helping companies accelerate their path to Net Zero while maintaining commercial agility.”

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From Source to Shelf: Embedding Climate Accountability

Highland Spring’s sustainability roadmap aims to reduce emissions across its full value chain — from water extraction to distribution. Through Altruistiq’s dashboards, the company’s teams will gain access to real-time insights on the carbon impacts of material sourcing, transportation, and packaging design.

“Partnering with Altruistiq represents a significant step forward in our journey to reduce emissions from source to shelf,” said Emily Bond, Head of Sustainability at Highland Spring Group. “Understanding emissions at SKU level allows us to make informed, evidence-based decisions that benefit our customers, regulators, and stakeholders alike.”

The agreement also covers implementation support, data migration, and staff training. A strategic review scheduled for 2026 will assess opportunities to expand the system’s scope, potentially integrating new modules or linking footprint data to financial reporting.

Broader Implications for ESG and Consumer Markets

For the beverage sector, product-level carbon tracking is fast becoming a commercial and regulatory imperative. As consumer goods companies face growing scrutiny from investors and regulators, the ability to measure, verify, and act on carbon data at SKU level is emerging as a defining feature of corporate ESG maturity.

By investing in digital carbon accounting, Highland Spring joins a growing cohort of UK and European brands leveraging technology to align with future disclosure standards and investor expectations under frameworks such as the CSRD and ISSB.

For Altruistiq, whose clients span food, retail, and manufacturing sectors, the partnership adds another major enterprise deployment in the UK’s fast-evolving carbon data ecosystem.

As environmental reporting moves toward precision, companies like Highland Spring are positioning themselves for a market where climate transparency is not only regulatory but reputational — defining how products compete, perform, and are trusted in a low-carbon economy.

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