Tate Modern and Costa Coffee among outlets offering free tap water in five areas of the capital

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The National Theatre and Tate Modern are to join an initiative offering people free tap water refills as part of the mayor of London’s plans to reduce purchases of single-use plastic bottles in the capital.



Shops and businesses including Costa Coffee and Leon have also signed up to the trial scheme, which will involve more than 65 outlets in five areas of London.

They will be listed on a free app and website along more than 5,700 additional refill locations across the UK, and will also advertise the service with stickers in their windows.

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London is following cities such Bristol and Bath which have spearheaded the Refill movement. The mayor, Sadiq Khan, said: “A free tap water scheme is long overdue in London and I welcome all of the retailers and business who have shown their strong commitment to reducing unnecessary plastic waste by joining the scheme.”

Last year the Guardian reported that one million bottles are sold around the world every minute. In the UK, 38.5m plastic bottles are used each day, just over half of which make it to recycling. More than 16m are put into landfill, burned, or leak into the environment and oceans.

The Refill London scheme will initially operate in Greenwich town centre, Lewisham high street, the Southbank and Bankside, Regent Street and London Bridge (the More London complex).

The zoological society of London will evaluate the first phase of the scheme, which will feed into plans for a wider rollout as early as the summer.



The average adult in London buys more than three plastic water bottles a week, amounting to 175 bottles a year. The production of bottled water is around 500 times more carbon-intensive than tap water.



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Khan is keen for Londoners to adopt small changes that can have a big environmental impact. There are also plans for a new generation of public water fountains to encourage people to reuse.



“We all need to try harder to cut the excessive use of single-use plastic bottles, cups and cutlery that can end up pointlessly overflowing our landfill sites, finding their way into our oceans and harming our environment,” Khan said.

The pilot of the Refill London scheme is run by Thames Water and City to Sea, a charity that aims to help stop ocean pollution as part of a wider national initiative backed by the water industry.

The Refill campaign, which started in Bristol, aims to create a network of high street retailers, coffee shops, businesses and local authorities offering to refill water bottles in every English town and city by 2021.