A NEWLY launched initiative in Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge is encouraging shoppers to use sustainable alternatives to single-use plastics. 

The Refill Burnham and Highbridge Scheme was launched at the end of July to help ‘turn the tide on plastic pollution’.

Local businesses including cafés, restaurants, pubs, shops and zero-waste stores can sign up as ‘Refill Stations’.

The Burnham and Highbridge Plastic Group hopes this will encourage shoppers away from products wrapped in single-use plastic and towards reusable containers instead, such as by showing people where they can refill their water bottles. 

Residents can now download the free Refill app, which signposts people towards businesses that are part of the sustainability initiative, selling products such as coffee, lunch, groceries and toiletries.

They will need to remember to take their reusable containers to the shop with them.

The scheme was started by City to Sea, an award-winning not-for-profit organisation campaigning to stop plastic pollution at source.

Burnham and Highbridge Weekly News: A free-to-use water refill tap was installed on the Esplanade last year.A free-to-use water refill tap was installed on the Esplanade last year.

Refill started life as a campaign connecting people to free drinking water to tackle the problem of single-use plastic bottles but has now grown into a global movement with hundreds of Refill Schemes across the world from London to Latin America.

The campaign then expanded beyond drinking water, and Refill is now the world’s first app to help people find locations to reuse and refill. 

Cllr Lesley Millard, who is part of Burnham and Highbridge Plastic Group, said: “Here in Burnham and Highbridge we’re rightly proud of the area’s stunning beaches.

“Plastics, including single-use plastic bottles, coffee cups and food packaging 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.” 

Shelley Bamsey added: “Refill Burnham and Highbridge 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.”  

Gavin Holman, from Brit Chips in Burnham-on-Sea, is one of the local businesses in Burnham and Highbridge signed up as a Refill Station on the app.

He said: “As a Plastic Free Champion from 2019, I want to continue to work to prevent single use plastic in our towns.”

Businesses that want to get involved should contact Cllr Millard (cllr.lesley.millard@burnham-highbridge-tc.gov.uk) or phone the town council on 01278 788088.