Pret a Manger is rolling out filtered water stations and reusable bottles across all of its veggie stores in a bid to tackle waste.
From this week, customers will be able to refill their bottles for free at filtered water stations across Pret’s three veggie branches in Soho, Shoreditch and Exmouth Market.
The shops will also sell 250ml and 500ml glass bottles at £3.99 and £4.99 respectively next to the bottled water to encourage customers to switch from single-use plastic bottles.
The filtered water stations and reusable bottles will also be trialled across Pret’s Manchester stores from 31 October.
In a blog published yesterday, Pret CEO Clive Schlee called for customer feedback on reusable bottles and spoke about the challenge of single-use packaging.
“Pret has always tried to lead on food waste and we are making inroads on the problem of packaging waste by reducing where we can and making more of it recyclable,” he said.
“Plastic bottles present a real challenge and there are two schools of thought within Pret. The passionate environmentalists say stop selling them altogether, while the pragmatists say make it as easy as you can for customers to use fewer plastic bottles. We are looking carefully at both options.
“The trial of reusable bottles and taps in our Veggie Pret and Manchester shops is just the start of Pret trying to do more when it comes to packaging,” Schlee added. “As always, I welcome your views on what we can do to make the most impact in this area.”
Pret will continue to offer its 25p hot drink discount across all UK stores if a customer brings in a reusable cup.
The move follows Pret’s agreement with recycling alliance ACE UK earlier this week to accelerate the recycling of paper cups through designated ‘bring banks’.
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