University teams up with Plastic Free Swansea to tackle plastic pollution

Swansea University has teamed up with Plastic Free Swansea and Swansea University Students’ Union to bring the Refill Revolution to the city.

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Refill Swansea – which launches on 24-25 November at the Waterfront Museum – is part of City to Sea’s award-winning national campaign Refill, which is being rolled out across Wales with the support of Welsh Government, Dŵr Cymru and Hafren Dyfrdwy.

The grassroots scheme will encourage people to ditch pointless plastic and make carrying a reusable bottle the norm by providing convenient Refill Stations in venues across the city, including Swansea University’s Bay and Singleton campuses.

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Statistics from Marine Conservation Society show the average adult buys more than three plastic water bottles every week – a startling 175 bottles every year per person. In total, some 7.7 billion plastic bottles are bought across the UK each year, resulting in substantial amounts of single-use plastic waste ending up in our oceans. As well as helping to tackle this growing issue of single-use plastic pollution, Refill Swansea will also substantially increase the availability of high-quality drinking water.

Local businesses can also become a Refill Station for the community by downloading the free Refill app and entering their details along with a photo.

Teifion Maddocks, Sustainability and Wellbeing Officer at Swansea University said:

“Plastics, including single-use plastic bottles, 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.

“Swansea University is a leading sustainable university and we are delighted to be able to support Refill with our partners in Plastic Free Swansea and the Students’ Union. Our Students’ Union Officers have been really busy supporting the launch of the campaign; we’ve now got at least 30 Refill stations located across our Bay and Singleton Park campuses for the whole community to use.”

Hannah Blythyn AM, Environment Minister said:

“More refill stations along our coast will help reduce the number of plastic bottles ending up in the sea, which can have a devastating effect on our marine environment. This is another step towards my ambition of Wales becoming the world’s first ‘Refill Nation’.”