The Success of Water Refill Stations Reducing Single-Use Plastic Bottle Litter

Kathryn Willis,Britta Denise Hardesty,Joanna Vince,Chris Wilcox

doi:10.3390/su11195232

Abstract

Bottled water is one sector of the beverage industry that has recently experienced substantial growth. The littering of plastic water bottles and the carbon emissions produced from bottled water production results in harmful effects on the environment. To reduce the harm of bottled water production and litter, government and non-government organisations have implemented litter abatement and behavioural change strategies targeting bottled water consumption and subsequent loss of bottles to the environment. Our study evaluated the success of one of these strategies, which is a filtered water refill station, implemented along the Brisbane River in Queensland, Australia. We found plastic bottle litter decreased after a water refill station was put into operation. However, given the location of the refill station, we suggest the behavioural change strategy employed did not reach its full potential. We highlight factors that could be employed to achieve maximum benefits when implementing similar behavioural change strategies.

Highlights

Plastic litter is present in nearly every environment on the land and in the sea
To determine whether water refill stations were successfully decreasing the number of plastic bottles littered in the Brisbane River and two of its tributaries, surveys of litter floating on the river surface and deposited on the river banks were conducted
The land analysis showed that plastic water bottle litter load did not change whereas the total litter load slightly decreased and the plastic bottle load slightly increased after the Go2Zone installation

Summary

Introduction

Plastic litter is present in nearly every environment on the land and in the sea. Plastic can become litter from its point of production such as microbeads in plastic factory waste water [1,2], during use such as a fishing net breaking free from its anchor [3] and disposal, such as from littering [4,5]. Plastic production is predicted to double within the 20 years [14] with the amount of plastic escaping into the environment anticipated to increase [15,16,17]. In Australia, bottled water is predicted to be the fastest growth sector in the beverage industry [20] with Australians spending more than half a billion dollars per year on bottled water [21]. This increased consumption has been linked to the preconception by consumers that bottled water is healthier, more convenient, and tastier than tap water [21,22,23]. [24], with tap water often demonstrated to be ‘cleaner’ or less contaminated than that sold in bottles

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Discussion

Conclusion