South Western Railway is expanding its eco friendly partnership with ape2o, a certified B Corp company, encouraging passengers at some of its busier stations to help reduce the number of single use plastic bottles.
SWR has announced that eight of its stations now have ape2o water machines (Vauxhall, Wimbledon, Putney, Kingston, Richmond, Twickenham, Hampton Court and Bournemouth) which are used by a combined 110,000 passengers each week day, helping ape2o in its mission to help reduce the impact of plastic waste on our streets, as well as the oceans and marine life.
Some 7.7 billion plastic water bottles are bought in the UK every year with up to 80% ending up in landfill our oceans or being burned, damaging the environment for generations to come.
There are also additional plans to roll out further water machines throughout London and other cities across the UK as well as to other stations across the SWR network.
ape2o uses a three-phase, advanced filtration system and ultra violet light to clean and sterilise the water, removing any impurities down to the molecular level and dispensing it hygienically as people can’t touch the water source.
Customers pay just 25p for each half litre of chilled, filtered still or sparkling water at the machines and fill up using either their own water containers, reducing the use of plastic bottles, or they can buy stainless steel plastic free ape2o bottles.
Commenting on the extended partnership, Amy Dickinson, SWR’s head of sustainability, said: ‘At SWR we are committed to supporting the Less Plastic Pledge through reducing and recycling waste and providing solutions to our customers that help them make sustainable choices. Working alongside companies like ape2o helps to encourage all of us to think more sustainably for the future of our planet.’
ape2o founder, Anthony Newman, added: ‘We’ve already saved more than 250,000 plastic bottles from ending up in oceans and landfills with our current machines. Our partnership with SWR will now help us to reach millions more passengers, showing them how ditching the plastic can be a force for good. We bring the same trusted benefits as bottled water such as convenience, purity, and hygiene, but without the plastic and at a fraction of the cost. It is time to go ape2o!’
ape2o will contribute 10% of all sales to ocean, beach, and river clean up and conservation initiatives.
South Western Railway already has an impressive record of delivering sustainability. This includes winning a prestigious Green Apple award for reducing its environmental impact and achieving its challenging zero waste to landfill target, eight months early. Since July 2018, 100% of its waste has been diverted from landfill – it is either recycled or used to generate energy.
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