Landsec rolls out ‘Refill Me’ campaign across shopping centres
Landsec has signed up more than 90 retail brands including Caffé Nero, Costa, Lush, McDonald’s and Pret a Manger to a new campaign offering shoppers free refills of their water bottles across its major shopping destinations.
The Refill Me initiative has launched in 12 Landsec shopping centres and the landlord is planning to extend it across its retail portfolio by 2020.
UK adults use 7.7 billion single-use plastic water bottles each year, and only around half are recycled. A survey of 520 shoppers, conducted by Qriously on behalf of Landsec, found 59 per cent would feel uncomfortable asking for free refills of water without making a purchase in store, while more than half said they would be more likely to start carrying a water bottle if they knew it would be easily refillable.
Around the shopping centres participating stores will display a sticker declaring their involvement in the refill scheme, while displays in the public spaces will also promote the scheme.
Tom Byrne, sustainability manager at Landsec, said: “At Landsec, we take our environmental responsibilities very seriously. When we discovered that 59% of people felt uncomfortable asking for a water refill without first making a purchase when out shopping, we were determined to help make it easier for shoppers to embrace sustainable practices. Wherever customers see our window sticker, they can ask for their bottle to be refilled without feeling pressured to make a purchase or embarrassed to ask.”
He added: “Single-use plastic is one of the biggest challenges facing our planet; like other refill campaigns, we’re determined to play our part in ensuring that we drive change in the behaviours of shoppers and retailers.”
