Refill Return is an award-winning campaign to help people live with less packaging waste. 

We connect people to places they can eat, drink and shop without single-use packaging. Anyone can download the free Refill Return app to tap into a global network of places to refill and reuse.

The Refill Return campaign was created by City to Sea, an inspiring community interest company advocating to stop marine plastic pollution at source.

Refill Return is now run by Ecosurety, a packaging compliance scheme and certified B Corp with a track-record of driving industry collaboration and on a mission to rid the world of unnecessary packaging.

The free Refill Return App connects you to a global network of Refill Stations, putting the power to reduce plastic in your hands. Find your nearest Refill Station on the map, and search for the type of Refill you want using the icons. Log your Refills and see how much plastic you have prevented in your personalised account page. You can also add a Refill station.

The app is best used with an account as this lets you log and track your Refills and add Refill Stations. You can use the app without an account for up to 10 Refill Station searches and then you will be prompted to create an account.

To log your Refill you’ll need to open the Refill app. In the map you’ll see the Station you’re at, tap on the Station, then tap ‘Log a refill here’.

A Refill Station is a location where you can eat, drink or shop without single-use packaging. Refill Stations can be shops, cafes, businesses, community buildings, public water fountains or transport hubs like train stations and airports.

1. Select the ‘Add to map’ on the Home tab. 

2. Select the type of station. 

3. Fill in the details for the location and tell us a bit about this location. 

4. And save!  

We’ll check if what you’ve added is suitable and willing to join us before it appears on the app.

If you have a location where you’re happy to allow the public to enter and refill their tap water, either directly or by popping in to ask you to refill, this is a ‘publicly accessible water point’ and can be registered as a Refill Station for water refills.

We can’t currently allow the following taps on our map due to safeguarding, access or hygiene issues:

• Schools

• Nightclubs

• Places of residence

• Taps located in toilet areas

• Outside taps over an open drain

Absolutely not! We welcome all types of businesses, from galleries and museums to banks and bars. If your business or location is not a school, nightclub, place of residence or an outside tap over an open drain, we’d love to have you onboard as a Refill Station.

If you’re having any issues adding a Refill Station we’d like to know about them, to ensure we resolve them as quickly as possible. Please contact us using the email address at the footer of this page.

If your business name or opening hours have changed,  or if you’d like to update the image showing for your Refill Station, you can email the new details to us using the email at the footer of this page. Please note all images need to be in .jpg or .png format. 

If your business is closing or you’ve decided you no longer want to be a part of the Refill Return campaign, we’ll be more than happy to remove your Station from the Refill Return app and database, just send your business name and address to the email at the footer of this page.

A Refill Scheme is an amazing group of organised individuals, who are powering the Refill Revolution in their local area. They engage with their communities to achieve real change and further the aims of Refill at a local level, encouraging people to carry reusables and use the Refill app to find places to refill.

Central to the work of Refill Schemes is signing up and promoting Refill Stations: cafes, restaurants, zero waste shops and other businesses or community buildings willing to provide refills to the local community and help power the Refill Revolution in their area. 

Before starting a new Refill Scheme, you should check our scheme map to make sure one doesn’t already exist in your area. If you have a local scheme already, we encourage you to reach out to them to offer any support. If not, you can find all the information you need about starting your own Scheme here.