The U.K. retailer Selfridges has announced that it is permanently removing all single-use plastic water bottles from its stores in favor of the company’s new glass bottled water range and reusable water vessels. The company encourages consumers to view its items for sale and refill vessels at the new Water Bar and Sea Change Drinking Fountain at Selfridges Oxford Street in London.
The move is part of Selfridges Project Ocean initiative launched in 2011 in an effort to stop plastic pollution. The company says that currently 13 billion plastic water bottles are used in the U.K. each year but only 23 percent are recycled. The remaining 10 billion bottles go to landfill or find their way into the ocean, Selfridges claims.
The company has also announced it is removing plastic carrier bags from its stores.
The British Plastics Federation in July disapproved of the action, issuing a statement July 10 describing it as a misguided attempt to tackle marine litter.
Philip Law, BPF director general says, “The availability of water in portable, lightweight bottles promotes good health and can be critical in emergency situations. Plastic products do not litter themselves onto our streets or into our oceans.”
In addition, Law comments on the positive progress being made in plastic bottle recycling saying, “During 2014, nearly 60 percent of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic bottles in the household waste stream were collected for recycling. We all need to ensure that recycling rates continue to grow and we urge people to recycle their plastic bottles and not discard them as litter. The only way we can truly tackle littering is not by indiscriminately banning products but through ongoing behavioral change programs.”