Refill is where it’s at baby. And where we’ve always been at, too. Since 1989 we’ve been banging the refill drum, or filling up the same bottle, because plastic is too valuable a resource to waste. Plastic is the last thing we should be throwing away
With the help of nature-guru and 80s TV legend Bill Oddie, we started the Refillution. Our mission, then as now, was to encourage people to rethink the way they used plastic. We want to make reusing, refilling and loving our bottles the norm. The time is now for THE REFILLUTION. Are you with us?
WASTE NOT
Plastic is used in packaging because it’s cheap but it takes decades (if not centuries) to degrade for products that are used once. Every plastic bottle you’ve ever bought will still be degrading and hanging around long after you’re gone.
We use a lot of plastic too. We use mostly recycled plastic but that’s still not good enough. This is why we want to drive a Refillution and get more refill schemes into health food stores and supermarkets.
Let’s make plastic valuable, not ‘valueless’.
Let’s use plastic more wisely – as a resource that is durable not disposable.
Single use is so 20th century, and we’re over it.
RECYCLING ISNT’ THE ANSWER
Did you know only 14% of plastic packaging is collected for recycling across the world?
In reality, only 5% of material value is retained through recycling for a subsequent use (source: Ellen MacArthur Foundation) – which means even if you recycled everything you bought, we’re all still falling a long way short of making our products, packaging and consumerism circular.
Our plastic problem isn’t going to go away even if more of us start dropping our plastic in a different coloured bin. Our recycling systems need a lot of work to be more efficient.
It would be a lot easier for us if we only talked about recycling our bottles but we need real impact and action, not just branded promises and passing the buck. Refilling the plastic we already have and produce has to be part of our future shopping routine, so we don’t waste those resources.
“At Ecover we believe re-use is the new recycling. It’s redefining the ambition for a true circular economy. We have set ourselves the challenge to make re-use the new standard for everyday shopping behaviour. As we develop and implement new solutions to make re-use more accessible, we also need a strong community to drive the change in behavior. Which is why 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,”
Tom Domen, Ecover Global Innovation
We need to use plastic more wisely.
Keep on using it.
And then keep on using it some more.
We reckon you can use your Ecover bottles at least 50 times. Maybe you’ve reused yours more? The gauntlet is thrown.
THE REFILLUTION IS HERE
Refilling your washing-up liquid or laundry detergent in a shop can feel revolutionary. Reject the need for yet more plastic by taking your existing plastic bottle to one of our refill sites in zero waste shops or in supermarkets – there are 680 so far and counting.
We’re passionate about re-installing systems so that it’s easier to refill and reuse, save CO2 and virgin materials. Giving consumers the opportunity to reuse their packaging has been one of our core ambitions for almost 30 years and it feels like we’re only just getting started.
We’re investing in trials, infrastructure and different packaging to make refilling even easier. We want to normalise the refill, in the same way you’ve all normalised not using single use plastic bags.
You take a bundle of tote bags to the supermarket right? Why not the bottles to put your products in?
Now’s the time to think refill over buy again.
We want to change the everyday shopping culture in the UK to make it more refill-friendly. To challenge the idea that plastic is disposable and worthless, and that recycling is the only option.
Will you refill with us?
Simply add your postcode and find your local refill point. If a little too far afield, you can even buy a 5L Refill Bottle and keep topped up, saving plastic, pennies and reducing your impact.
