Following the sector’s commitment to prevent the equivalent of four billion plastic bottles ending up as waste by 2030, SES has partnered with local sports events to replace thousands of plastic water bottles with refills.
The company said standpipes on race routes and tankers of drinking water will prevent 24,000 bottles being used on the day of the Run Reigate half marathon.
In 2018 the public interest commitment (PIC) was made alongside others to cut leakage, reach net zero, eliminate water poverty and commit to the social mobility pledge.
Colin Skellett, chief executive of Wessex Water and co-champion of the PIC, told Utility Week the industry united behind its goal to reduce plastic pollution.
He said: “The industry was a founding partner of City to Sea’s refill campaign, and during the three-year partnership community action on plastic grew more than 20-fold, making free tap water refills available across the country. City to Sea estimate that this has already prevented the equivalent of 150 million plastic bottles becoming waste.”
As part of the campaign, water companies have been installing public refill points in towns and cities. This activity slowed during the pandemic, however Skellett said it was now growing again.
“The industry has also funded independent research into how microplastics are affected by our treatment processes. This has shown that our treatment works remove 99.9 per cent of microplastics that enter the sewers.”
He added the work put the industry “well on track to make a huge difference” thanks to individual companies’ efforts to eliminate single-use plastics across their operations, plus support for initiatives such as beach cleaning to remove plastic from around the coastline.
SES’ latest initiative as part of the commitment follows its water refill stations in towns across its supply area and distribution of reusable water bottles to NHS staff and its own workers.
Wholesale director at SES, Tom Kelly, said: “As a local company we take an active part in improving the areas we are privileged to serve, tackling environmental challenges like climate change. By providing thousands of litres of our top-quality tap water to the runners for free at this year’s event, we will prevent 24,000 plastic bottles from being given out – laid end to end that’s five kilometres of single use plastic being saved, which is phenomenal.”