Refill Isle of Man
Refill Isle of Man is reducing consumption of single-use plastic water bottles that are harmful to our environment.
UNESCO Biosphere Isle of Man is the licenced operator for the Refill scheme in the Isle of Man.
Refill Stations – shops, cafes, museums etc – display the easily identifiable blue Refill sticker and fill up bottles with cold tap water.
They appear on the official Refill app, searchable while on the move.
It is free and easy to sign up as a Refill Station, provided you meet the hygiene requirements. Please complete the simple sign up form and GDPR consent form on the right and email them to Refill@gov.im or ring +44 1624 695738.
Download the app to see the Island’s Refill Stations.
Information for businesses from Refill
Paying
Businesses will have to pay for the water themselves, but with 30-40 Refills per toilet flush you are talking pennies or fractions of pennies. Shops, therefore, will not a get a deduction on their water bills.
You must not charge people to use Refill. The premise of Refill is ‘free accessible drinking water’. Some places may have charity pots nearby – in Bude one place has three for various local charities next to the refill decanter – please don’t directly ask though.
Bottled water sales
Some people are worried they will lose lots of money in bottled water sales however there’s a huge opportunity to make more money and you make a difference with Refill. Most drinks come in other packaging and water comes in glass bottles too. We have heard only positive things from participating businesses in other towns and cities. And we are not asking you to stop selling throw-away plastic bottles; we are just asking that if someone comes in asking for a Refill you’ll fill up their bottles for free.
Refill decanter hygiene
The business is responsible for the hygiene of the Refill decanter but café / restaurant staff are trained in hygiene and the business should have certificates for this. For non-catering businesses the key hygiene points are not touching bottles near the neck, asking customers to remove lids themselves and maintaining a gap between bottle and water source so there is no contact.
General advice to all Refillers is regularly clean your bottle as you would a glass in your home.
Survey results
A YouGov survey in 2018 highlighted that 64% of consumers would be more likely to return for future purchases if they could refill their water bottle. 62% said it would make them choose a business that offered free refills over a competitor and 73% would view a business more favourably if it gave free tap or filtered water on request.
If you really do not feel that Refill is for you, you can leave at any time.
