Scheme launched for plastics cutdown

A scheme, designed to help reduce plastic and make it easier to get drinking water on to go has been launched.

'Refill Isle of Man' encourages shops, cafes, restaurants and tourist attractions to display an easy to recognise sticker, appear on an app and fill up people’s water bottles with tap water free on request.

The scheme is launched locally by UNESCO Biosphere Isle of Man and is run by City to Sea - a not-for-profit organisation that campaigns to prevent marine plastic pollution.

At a launch yesterday Environment, Food and Agriculture Minister Geoffrey Boot MHK said 'It’s time to turn the plastic water bottle from the fashion accessory it's become to something socially unacceptable when used once and thrown away.'

If local businesses or premises are interest in signing up as a 'refill station' - they must have a cold water tap not in a toilet area or over an open drain.