Pret a Manger to launch UK-wide reusable bottle

Popular food and drink retailer Pret a Manger is unveiling a reusable bottle across all its UK stores.

Pret has successfully trialled the scheme across 14 shops and it will now be introduced at its 370 outlets in the UK. A large proportion of these are in London, but the company has a presence in all corners of the country.

It has teamed up with bottle makers Chilly’s to create a range of options to encourage customers to reduce their plastic waste. The launch of the bottle coincides with new filtered water stations which can be freely used by both customers and passers-by.

During the initial trial, Pret’s CEO, Clive Schlee, commented: “Plastic bottles are a problem. We all feel it even before we hear the shocking statistics about millions of tonnes of plastic ending up in our oceans each year. I’m thrilled that we’ve partnered with Chilly’s to create a range of reusable bottles and I hope our customers love the designs as much as we do.”

A deposit return scheme is also being trialled by the company at three shops in Brighton. The company has committed to recycle any plastic bottles taken into these select stores and 10p returned for any Pret-branded bottles. If successful this scheme will also be launched across the country.

Pret has taken the lead on introducing the deposit scheme, which is commonplace in some European countries and led to dramatic reductions in plastic usage. In March, the UK government released initial plans to launch a similar scheme in England, which is currently open for consultation. It is hoped this will tackle head-on the problem of up to 3 billion plastic drinks bottles going unrecycled each year. Iceland has become the first supermarket to back the idea.