AN EXCITING new scheme which will see water refill stations placed in Wem and surrounding areas has started.

Refill Wem, is the brainchild of 14-year-old Thomas Adams pupil, Sian Mercer, who launched the project along with members of the Adams Awareness Group at the school following concerns of the ever-growing issue surrounding single-use plastics.

It is hoped that refill stations will be in place on every street so that refilling water bottles will become easier, more convenient and cheaper, and which in turn will lead towards less littering.

Sian said: “Here in Wem we’re rightly proud of the area’s unique countryside, such as the Meres and Mosses.

“Plastics, including single-use plastic bottles, are now the most frequently found type of litter on UK beaches and you don’t have to look far to find them littering our towns and green spaces too.

“If just one in 10 Britons refilled once a week, we’d have 340 million less plastic bottles a year in circulation.”

Sian is hoping to encourage participating cafes, bars, restaurants, and other businesses to sign up to the free Refill app and put a sticker in their window alerting passers-by to the fact they’re welcome to fill up their bottle for free.

“Refill Wem gives us all the opportunity to help make this type of litter a thing of the past at the same time as saving money,” she added.

“It’s good business sense as well, as customers view businesses that provide free water refills more favourably and are more likely to return to them to make future purchases.

“On our launch day we visited local businesses and signed up over 10 businesses in and around Wem as Refill Stations and we would love to hear from any other businesses that want to put their tap on the map.”

Refill Wem builds on the success of nationwide campaign Refill, which boasts more than 20,000 Refill Stations.

James Watt, Refill Regional Coordinator said: “It’s a really simple concept with a really big potential result.”