Free drinking water along Wales Coast path to tackle plastic pollution
Under Welsh Government plans to improve access to drinking water in public places across Wales, free public access to drinking water will be available at key communities along the Wales Coast path to help reduce the use of single use plastics.
Environment Minister Hannah Blythyn will name the 870 mile Wales Coast Path as the first location for the roll out of a Refill scheme for Wales, as part of the Environmental Summit at the Volvo Ocean Race today (5th June 2018).
The scheme is part of the Welsh Government’s ambition to become the world’s first refill nation and the Minister will commit to delivering Refill into communities along the Wales Coast Path within the next year.
The Welsh Government will work with towns, villages and food and drink businesses to sign up to become refill points. Those signed up will be visible to walkers through window stickers and listed in a bi-lingual refill app.
In a bid to improve the management of plastic waste, the Minister also said that the £6.5 million Circular Economy Capital Investment Fund would be prioritised on the recycling of plastics.
The fund will help Welsh businesses manufacturing plastic products to increase the recycled content of their products, keeping resources in circulation locally instead of being exported for recycling elsewhere, used as a fuel or ending up in landfill.
Hannah Blythyn said: “Wales is the first country in the world to have a dedicated footpath that stretches the entire coastline and we as a Government are very much looking forward to working with the communities along these 870 glorious miles to curb the use of single use plastic. This is just the first step in our ambition to become the world’s first ‘Refill nation.”