Following the water industry's announcement on water refill stations, Chair of the London Assembly Environment Committee, Leonie Cooper AM said:
"Over 3 million Londoners will buy water in a plastic bottle today,[1] but very few of those bottles will be recycled, so it’s good to see the water industry and the Mayor addressing the scourge of plastic waste in our city. London needs to lead the way on this issue.
In our ‘Bottled Water’ report last year, we recommended that the Mayor improve access to tap water in the capital, encourage water refill schemes and end the sale of plastic bottled water on GLA premises.
It’s fantastic to see so many of our recommendations having an impact in London and nationally, with the water industry announcement today.
We also suggested that the Mayor look into the feasibility of trialling a Deposit Return Scheme in the capital. In Germany 99% of bottles are recycled and that's a target London should aspire to.[2]
We look forward to Shirley Rodrigues (Deputy Mayor, Environment and Energy) briefing the Committee in detail on how the Mayor’s drinking water and bottle refill schemes will work and whether a Deposit Return Scheme can be trialled in London.”
Notes to editors
- GLA Population and Household Projections 2017 and London contributes to shameful UK pollution problem as Britons admit to using 7.7 billion plastic bottles of water a year, Brita filter press release [Published on 15/6/16]
- ZeroWaste Europe, Beverage Packaging and Zero Waste [Accessed on 21/03/2017]
- Bottled Water report
- Leonie Cooper AM, Chair of the Environment Committee, is available for interview – see contact details below.
- As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.
For media enquiries, please contact Lisa Lam on 020 7983 4067. For out of hours media enquiries, call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the London Assembly duty press officer. Non-media enquiries should be directed to the Public Liaison Unit on 020 7983 4100.