Bristol charity City to Sea launches World Refill Day

The global campaign is urging governments to put reuse at the heart of recovery plans

A charity that has saved an estimated 100 million plastic items from being thrown out has launched World Refill Day to help tackle plastic pollution.

The global campaign by City to Sea, in Bristol, is being supported by NGOs Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace.

It hopes raising awareness of "refill and reuse" will be "the answer to the world's plastic pollution crisis".

A recent report stated the world's plastic waste would weigh 1.3 billion tonnes by 2040 unless action is taken.

City to Sea created the Refill app in 2015 which directs people to places they can eat, drink and shop with less plastic.

'Catastrophic impact'

Since it started, it has logged more than 270,000 refill stations worldwide to connect people with local producers that accept reusable containers.

Launching World Refill Day on 16 June, it now wants to make reusing and refilling "the new normal".

Jo Morley, City to Sea's head of campaigns and project lead for Refill, said: "Our addiction to single-use plastic is out of control and it's having a catastrophic impact on our planet.

"This World Refill Day, we're calling on governments, brands and big businesses to put words into action and prioritise reduction and reuse over recycling which we know isn't working."

Liz Godsell said she was delighted to have joined the Refill campaign

Godsell's Cheese, in Gloucestershire, which installed a milk refill machine in 2020, is marking World Refill Day by joined the Refill app.

It said that since installing the machine it has saved more than 13,000 single-use plastic milk cartons with comparable sales in refillable containers.

Owner Liz Godsell said: "We wanted to do our bit to encourage our customers to reduce their use of single-use plastics while offering an easy way to buy local produce.

"One of the easiest ways of doing this was to offer our milk fresh from the farm."

City to Sea’s Refill app connects people to places they can refill and reuse, avoiding single-use plastic and accessing safe, clean drinking water

Tom Domen, from environmentally-friendly produce organisation Ecover, is also supporting World Refill Day and said he hoped to help "grow the refill movement".

"We're delighted to work with City to Sea, who have an impressive track record in community campaigning, in a year-long partnership to drive refill behaviour and help grow the refill movement," he said.

Other organisations, such as Boston Tea Party, have also reworked their business aims to reduce waste by asking customers to use reusable cups.

Restaurants and food outlets have also started to opt for more environmentally friendly reusable containers.