Update: Sigg to take back BPA-lined bottles

The Swiss manufacturer Sigg, under fire for quietly phasing out BPA from its bottle liner while benefiting from consumer preference for BPA-free food containers, announced this week that it would take back bottles made with its old BPA-containing liner through October 31st and issue credits for replacement bottles.

(AP Photo/Donald King) This undated file photo
shows aluminum water bottles by SIGG.

BPA, short for Bisphonol-a, is a chemical used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins, like the old Sigg liner. Concerns have mounted in recent years that BPA leaches from plastics into food and poses a health risk. BPA falls into a class of chemicals known as endocrine disrupters, meaning it mimics natural hormones in the body, a special concern for children with still developing reproductive systems.

Sigg Apologizes for Handling of BPA Issue

In an apologetic letter on the Sigg web site, CEO Steve Wasik writes:

I learned that many of you purchased SIGG bottles - not just because they were free from leaching and safe - but because you believed that SIGGs contained no BPA. I learned that, although SIGG never marketed the former liner as “BPA Free” we should have done a better job of both clearly communicating about our liner as well as policing others who may have misunderstood the SIGG message.

Whether Wasik's apology will quell the green blogosphere ire is unclear.

Read the original story, Sigg reveals BPA in bottle lining prior to August 2008, for more, including how customers can tell old liners from new ones.

Returning Your Sigg Bottle

According to Sigg's web site, to get free replacement bottles, customers must ship back their old bottles at thier own expense and then order replacements from Sigg's web site, using the special code Sigg will provide. It is unclear at this time whether shipping the new bottle is also at customer expense.

Sigg has posted shipping labels and return forms on their web site. Customers have until October 31, 2009 to return their bottles to Sigg.

Ecorazzi a top environmental celebrity news blog, is reporting a different story in Take Your BPA-Tainted, Soulless SIGG Bottles Back To Major Retailers. According to their sources, Sigg owners can return bottles to any major retailer for a free replacement.  Presumably the retailer will handle returning the bottles to Sigg.