Free tap water scheme launches in Madeley to help cut plastic waste

Refill Madeley is on a mission to make refilling water bottles as easy, convenient and cheap as possible, by introducing Refill Stations on every street.

The scheme encourages participating cafes, bars, restaurants, banks and other businesses to sign up to the free Refill app and put a sticker in their window alerting passers-by to the fact they’re welcome to fill up their bottle for free. 

It’s estimated that around 7.7 billion plastic water bottles are bought across the UK each year, resulting in substantial amounts of single-use plastic waste ending up in our oceans.

City to Sea, a not-for-profit organisation headed by campaigner Natalie Fee, launched the award-winning Refill Campaign in 2015. It’s estimated that the scheme, now being rolled out nationwide with support from Water UK and local water companies, will cut plastic bottle use by tens of millions each year, as well as substantially increasing the availability of high-quality drinking water.

Local Champion Cllr Helena Morgan from Madeley Town Council, who are launching Refill Madeley, explains why both businesses and their customers should get involved:

“Here in Madeley we’re rightly proud of the area’s history and to be part of a world heritage site. Plastics, including single-use plastic bottles, are now the most frequently found type of litter on UK beaches and you don’t have to look far to find them littering our towns and green spaces too.”

Helena added, “Refill Madeley gives us all the opportunity to help make this type of litter a thing of the past at the same time as saving money. It’s good business sense as well, as customers view businesses that provide free water refills more favourably and are more likely to return to them to make future purchases.”

Refill Madeley builds on the success of Refill around the UK, which now boasts a network of over 20,000 Refill Stations.

James Watt, Refill Regional Coordinator, says “We’re so excited that Madeley is joining the Refill movement and making a real difference by reducing reliance on single-use plastics. Every time we refill a re-usable bottle we save our own money and the planet’s resources, and all those individual refills add up to a huge impact. It will be great to see so many local businesses supporting Refill Madeley by signing up to provide free refills.”