Pret A Manger has installed taps in some of its branches, encouraging customers to refill reusable bottles in a bid to reduce plastic waste.
The taps dispense filtered water for free and have been installed on a trial basis in the three Veggie Pret branches in London, where reusable glass bottles are also available to buy.
For now, the stores are still selling beverages in plastic bottles, but the trial aims to establish whether providing refill options would encourage the public to rethink its consumption of plastic.
Pret plans to expand the initiative to Manchester branches later this month to help reduce the “devastating impact” plastic waste has on the environment.
Writing ahead of the initiative’s launch, Clive Schlee, CEO of Pret, said “plastic bottles are a problem”.
“Plastic bottles present a real challenge and there are two schools of thought within Pret,” he said.
“The passionate environmentalists say stop selling them altogether, while the pragmatists say make it as easy as you can for customers to use fewer plastic bottles. We are looking carefully at both options.”
The move follows similar initiatives in other food and drink outlets to reduce plastic waste.
Last month, Wetherspoons announced it was banning the use of plastic straws completely while in June, All Bar One announced it was “phasing out” plastic straws nationwide.