THE PROBLEM

One million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute, with the volume expected to grow 20% by 2021. That's more than half a trillion bottles sold each year by the end of the decade. 

The growing demand for bottled water must be curtailed, given that 91% of all plastics produced are not recycled, with the majority of plastics being landfilled, incinerated or discarded in nature, including the ocean.

THE SOLUTION

Recent polls suggest that 65% of people wouldn't buy plastic water bottles if tap water refills were freely available. By developing a Water Fountain Fund to help install drinking fountains across city centers, individuals are encouraged to use reusable water bottles, and eliminate the needless purchase of single-use plastic water bottles. Replacing plastic water bottles with free tap water stations reduces city waste streams and related waste collection and management costs. 

ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS

Solutions that target the single-use plastic water bottle include water fountain funds, reusable bottle initiatives, and alternative bottle materials including edibles.

CASE STUDY EXAMPLES

London

#OneLess, the Mayor of London and MIW Water Cooler Experts are ramping up London’s refill revolution by installing new drinking water fountains across the city.

Together, they started a ‘drinking fountain fund’ for London, and with it, they’re installing an initial network of at least 20 drinking fountains across the capital, making it really easy for Londoners to refill on the go. 

The average Londoner gets through 175 bottles of water each year – that’s over a billion on a city level. Too many of these bottles end up in the River Thames, from where they can flow out to the ocean, causing harm to marine creatures and poisoning our food chain.

By improving access to drinking water and making it really easy for Londoners to refill, #OneLess, the Mayor of London, and MIW Water Cooler Experts are leading the charge against needless single-use plastic waste and plastic pollution.

See more information at: https://www.onelessbottle.org/fountainfund/

The Netherlands

In The Netherlands, €2m was allocated in 2019 to fund 1,000 new drinking water fountains in school playgrounds. Schools can register for the subsidy, which will cover 75% of the cost. Amsterdam city council is currently doubling the number of water fountains in parks and public places to 500 as part of the city’s campaign.