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Gloucestershire’s water provider Severn Trent is helping launch a new Refill Scheme which will see people able to fill up reusable water bottles for free.

The company has teamed up with not for profit organisation City to Sea in a bid to rollout the Refill campaign across the region – with an action day taking place in Gloucester on 19 September.

The initiative will allow people to fill up reusable water bottles at member businesses such as pubs, restaurants, museums and cafes. Businesses involved will display the Refill window sticker to let passers-by know they can fill up for free, and a smartphone app is also available which maps out Refill station locations.

Severn Trent’s corporate responsibility lead Jess Fidler said: “Alongside our partners at City to Sea, we’re launching Refill in 10 towns and cities across the region. Gloucester is the next in line to benefit as we encourage people to keep healthy, hydrated and to help reduce plastic pollution.

“We’ll be out and about in Gloucester looking to sign up as many local businesses as possible. It’s a campaign for everyone and a chance to promote the wonderful benefits of water.“As well as making access to tap water easier, Refill is a brilliant way to reduce plastic pollution and cut the amount of bottles ending up in rivers, canals and landfill sites.

“If every resident of Gloucester refilled once a week instead of buying a bottle of water, Gloucester alone could save around six million plastic bottles in just 12 months.”

Gloucester MP Richard Graham said: “I hope many businesses in Gloucester will sign up to our contribution to a fantastic national initiative. Refill enables people to fill their water bottles for free and reduce plastic waste by continuously reusing that bottle. The Refill Scheme will play an important role in making Gloucester greener - with less empty drink bottles lying around the city centre, in parks and by the roadside. Our goal is lots of small steps for a big impact.’’

Natalie Fee, founder of City to Sea, added: “We’ve seen a huge appetite for our Refill campaign across England, from individuals wanting to make a difference in their community to national chains keen to offer free refills to their customers. Our Refill app puts the power to stop plastic pollution in people’s hands – and now thanks to the water industry we'll be able to help everyone, from local communities to airports, to provide free refills on the go.“Businesses can add themselves to the app too and help create the wave of change needed to keep plastic bottles out of our oceans."

Data shows that around 7.7 billion plastic bottles are bought across the UK each year, resulting in substantial amounts of single-use plastic waste. The Refill app can be downloaded for free on Google Play or the App Store. Anyone wanting to get in touch, to find out more about Refill, or to sign up or become an ambassador for their local area, can email refill@severntrent.co.uk.