The Inn Collection Group puts tap on the map for water refill scheme

The Inn Collection Group is tapping into a national water campaign that aims to slash the millions of plastic bottles ending up in the world’s oceans each year.

The pub company has pledged its support of Refill by registering each of its inns as refill stations where people can replenish their water bottles free of charge instead of buying new ones.

The Inn Collection Group’s operations manager Paul Brown said: “The plastic crisis is a global issue, but we can all take matters into our own hands to make a difference in our own communities to tackle plastic pollution. Each of our inns are located on or close to the coast and waterways, so this is a cause close to our hearts.

“As well as tackling the issue of single-use plastic by making it easier for people-on-the-go to reuse and refill their bottles instead of buying new ones, we’re fortunate to have very high-quality drinking water on tap for people to enjoy.

“We’re delighted to be partnering Refill in such a worthwhile initiative and giving people even more reasons to visit an Inn Collection Group pub.”

Iain Robson is a natural environment officer with the Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. He said: “It’s great to see companies like The Inn Collection Group having the bottle to do something locally that really will make a difference when it comes to reducing plastic pollution.

“Refill offers a free and easy solution for preventing plastic pollution from single-use bottles at source. If just one in 10 people refilled once a week, we’d save around 340 million plastic bottles a year.

“We want more businesses like The Inn Collection Group to put their tap on the map and sign up to the Refill scheme to help reduce the amount of plastic bottles ending up on beaches and in the sea. Refill is an award-winning campaign which aims to prevent millions of plastic bottles ending up in the environment by making it easier to fill up a reusable bottle with tap water.

“This scheme gives people confidence that they won’t be turned away from somewhere or cause upset when they ask for their bottles to be refilled. It has become a social norm to drink bottled water when we’re ‘on the go’ even though we have some of the safest tap water in the world.

“Refill makes it easier for people to fill up their water bottles when they’re out and about by telling them businesses near to them – like The Inn Collection Group’s pubs – where they can do this.”

North East regional co-ordinator for Refill Charlotte Hawkins said: “We know lots of businesses already offer this simple service, but find customers often feel embarrassed or cheeky for asking.

“By letting people know they can look for Refill stickers or posters and be confident they can refill for free where they find one, Refill is encouraging more people to take one small step away from relying on single use plastic bottles. It’s a really simple concept with a really big potential result. It is great to see larger companies get involved with the Refill campaign, and sign up all of their hotels and pubs”.

The Inn Collection Group’s Water Refill Stations are available in Northumberland at The Lindisfarne Inn near Holy Island, The Bamburgh Castle Inn at Seahouses, The Hog’s Head Inn at Alnwick, The Amble Inn at Amble, The Commissioners Quay Inn at Blyth; in County Durham at The Kingslodge Inn in Durham city and The Seaton Lane Inn in Seaton and in Cleveland at The King’s Head Inn in Newton under Roseberry.

Northumbrian Water’s Janine Rillands, said: “It’s absolutely fantastic to hear of yet more organisations in the Northumberland area, the Inn Collection Group, pledging their support of Refill. We’ve got amazing tap water quality here in the North East and it’s a great opportunity to take advantage of that, while helping to protect the environment at the same time. We welcome the Inn Collection Group to the Refill scheme and look forward to them making a real impact in the fight against plastic pollution.”