Niagara Bottling Achieves True Bottle-to-Bottle Recycling With New California Facility

Company becomes a domestic bottler with full ‘bottle-to-bottle’ manufacturing

Diamond Bar-headquartered Niagara Bottling, a family-owned water and beverage manufacturer, has announced the acquisition of a first-of-its-kind, 305,000+-square-foot recycling and packaging facility in Vernon, along with the rPlanet Earth brand. The previously shuttered facility was purchased from rPlanet Earth Los Angeles Holdings and rPlanet Earth Los Angeles.

Through the acquisition of the facility, Niagara plans to enhance its recycling capabilities by sorting, cleaning and reprocessing PET materials into high-quality recycled (rPET) flakes and pellets. These materials will then be used to manufacture packaging for Niagara products, further reducing reliance on virgin plastics and advancing towards more circularity.

“We’re proud to bring this facility back to life and become one of the few companies in the country with a true bottle-to-bottle process,” said Rali Sanderson, president of Niagara Bottling. “As part of this work, we’re investing in new equipment so we can turn recyclable plastic materials into new bottles, right here in California. This restores a vital recycling operation for the community, making sure even more plastic containers are recycled and get a second life.”

The rPlanet Earth facility is a state-of-the-art recycling facility that processes B-bales, which come from curbside mixed recycling bins. B-bales are a mix of materials that are more complicated and difficult to process. This capability is critical at a time when PET surpassed aluminum as the most recycled material in California last year. It will also provide domestic circularity in California for Niagara and its customers.

Adding the rPlanet Earth facility to its operations, Niagara expands its beverage manufacturing operations and pursues vertical integration for its business. As a family-owned company, Niagara has a long history of environmental sustainability and innovation in packaging, including reducing the plastic in its cap, bottle and label over the last 30 years by 70% through lightweighting and introducing label-free bottles in the U.S.

“Niagara’s commitment to producer responsibility will help ensure that literally billions of PET containers returned for recycling by California consumers will make their way back into new containers, reducing pollution and reliance on fossil fuels, while creating jobs and economic growth,” said Mark Murray, executive director of the environmental group Californians Against Waste. “More than a feel-good slogan or green label, Niagara is making a tangible investment in California’s closed-loop recycling economy.”

The facility, which has been offline since September 2025, will go through a phased restoration to become fully operational and integrated into Niagara’s network. The company has already filled several positions and plans to hire 60 team members in total, including many from the former rPlanet Earth operation. The facility is expected to initially produce 45M lbs. of rPET, which will be used in Niagara products. Niagara was the first bottling manufacturer in North America to achieve TRUE Zero Waste Certification.

Information for this article was sourced from Niagara Bottling, LLC.