AF Blakemore, the Spar wholesaler for Central & South East England & Wales, has become the first convenience retailer to join the Refill campaign to help reduce plastic waste.
It has registered 68 of its company-owned stores on the Refill app, which lets people search for places where they can fill up water bottles for free.
The app, which is part of the award-winning Refill campaign and run by plastic pollution campaigning organisation City to Sea, features more than 25,000 refill stations nationwide. With a simple tap, app users can find a local refill station and get fresh drinking water on the go, eliminating the need to purchase a new plastic bottle with every drink.
The app has been downloaded 260,000 times and is used by 30,000 users on average per month.
At registered Blakemore Retail Spar stores, members of the public can ask for free water top ups at foodservice counters.
Blakemore Retail Managing Director Matt Teague commented: “Our customers tell us that they are concerned about their plastic consumption, and so as a business we are committed to implementing changes to help them reduce it.
“This is a great initiative that will enable people to save money and cut down on plastic pollution.”
The company also helped independent store Hockmeyer Motors introduce a free filtered water refill station (pictured) as part of a refurbishment.
