Refill Cyprus

The clear waters of the once pristine Mediterranean, are being needlessly polluted by plastic waste, which once in the sea, breaks down into tiny particles which can never be recovered. One component of all this waste is single-use plastic bottles. It’s abundantly clear that the problem of plastic pollution needs to be tackled at the source, by reducing consumption. We are living in an age where one million plastic bottles are used every minute all around the globe – and this number is only rising. As yet there are almost no “refill and reuse” options available in Cyprus - until now.

We’ve recently launched Refill Cyprus, a behaviour change campaign created to help people reduce plastic pollution by making it easier to reuse and refill their bottles with everyday essentials – from body care and cleaning products to filtered drinking water. As part of this campaign, we're installing refill stations in busy areas throughout the island - starting with water stations on coastal walking paths that have heavy foot traffic from both locals and tourists. In just 12 months after installing our first water station, approximately 12,500 bottles were saved.

We also plan to develop an IOS and Android mobile application. One of its features will allow users to locate their nearest refill station instead of having to opt for purchasing bottled water at the nearest kiosk. The application will also have an educational element to encourage the adoption of more environmentally friendly habits.

Refill Cyprus negates damage caused by plastics because we’re not sanctioning the use of plastics at all. Instead, we’re encouraging people to refill their own, reusable bottles/containers, which is an effective way to stop depending so heavily on plastics and helps to prevent waste entirely.