The Ministry of Environment (Minister Kim Wansup) announced that the first-ever drinking water produced using a nitrogen-filling method will be launched in the domestic market starting October 8, in an effort to reduce plastic usage.

Nitrogen-infused drinking water is a product that uses liquid nitrogen as specified by the ‘Standards and Specifications for Food Additives’ to fill the container with gaseous nitrogen. When the liquid nitrogen injected into the drinking water container (PET bottle) changes to gas and expands, it helps maintain the internal pressure of the bottle, preventing it from easily collapsing.

Currently, the nitrogen-filling method is used both domestically and internationally in the production of coffee, mixed beverages, and liquid teas, and overseas, nitrogen is also used to fill drinking water products for production and sale.

The National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER), an agency under the Ministry of Environment, con.firmed in the first half of 2021 that the safety of nitrogen-filled bottled water does not affect the quality of drinking water. As a result, the Ministry began to actively promote a pilot project for nitrogen-infused drinking water in collaboration with Lotte Chilsung Beverage Co., Ltd. starting in the second half of 2021.

Lotte Chilsung Beverage developed the container design and pre-validated potential issues that could arise during product distribution through the pilot project. Subsequently, they introduced nitrogen-filling equipment and launched the nitrogen-infused drinking water (branded as Icis N).

The newly launched nitrogen-infused drinking water container is characterized by a 19% reduction in plastic usage compared to existing containers. While the weight of the previous container was 11.6g for 500mL, the nitrogen-filling container weighs 9.4g. Lotte Chilsung Beverage expects to reduce plastic usage by approximately 127 tons annually based on its sales volume of drinking water.

The Ministry will continuously monitor any issues during the distribution and sale of nitrogen-infused drinking water in collaboration with Lotte Chilsung Beverage, and plans to improve relevant regulations regarding labeling standards for drinking water, including whether or not to indicate nitrogen-filling products.

In addition, to reduce plastic usage through nitrogen filling, the Ministry will continue to collaborate with other drinking water manufacturers to expand the application of such products.

Lee Seung-hwan, Director General of Water Use Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Environment, stated, “It is encouraging that Lotte Chilsung Beverage voluntarily proposed to cooperate in the production of nitrogen-filled products since 2020 to reduce plastic usage.” He added, “We will actively pursue regulatory improvements in line with the expansion of nitrogen-infused drinking water products in the future.”

For further information, please contact the Public Relations Division. 

Contact person: Gina Lee, foreign media spokesperson

Phone: +82-44-201-6055

Email: gcjgina @gmail.com