evian, the Official Water of The Championships, together with The All England Lawn Tennis Club, have announced that for the first time spectators at Wimbledon can stay hydrated with evian natural mineral water through a unique refill system, encouraging refill and reuse behaviour throughout the day.
This expands the success of the first-of-its-kind refill system introduced for players last year as part of evian and Wimbledon’s joint work to reduce plastic packaging waste during The Championships.
This year, evian refill stations can be found in six locations across the Grounds; three in food court areas and three mobile carts, as well as additional stations in the Queue.
Spectators can purchase evian natural mineral water unlimited refills to stay hydrated throughout their day at Wimbledon.
“We know that refill plays, and will continue to play, a major role in the way people consume water here in the UK. The response to the player refill system last year was incredibly positive, so we want to expand refill to spectators to explore the potential at a larger scale,” Gemma Morgan, spokesperson for evian, said.
“Through a bespoke solution for Wimbledon, for the first time ever our pristine mountain mineral water will be available for spectators to purchase through a refill system.
“As part of Wimbledon and evian’s joint sustainability journey, we have been exploring ways to champion refill and reuse behaviours. So, we are thrilled to be making a significant step forward with this year’s refill innovation.”
The All England Lawn Tennis Club commented that innovations such as this are key to helping achieve its goal of becoming Environment Positive by 2030.
Hattie Park, sustainability manager at The All England Lawn Tennis Club, said: “We continue to make improvements each year to reach our sustainability ambitions. Resource efficiency is one of our four focus areas and importantly one in which our guests can also play an active role.
“We want to design out waste and promote a culture of reuse, so working together with evian to evolve and expand the refill pilot to our guests at The Championships this year is a really important step forward. I am excited to see how it is received and what we can learn from it for future Championships.”
The development will see Danone UK & Ireland, makers of evian and a member of the UK Plastics Pact, choosing one of the world’s most viewed sporting arenas to showcase a reuse and refill model to highlight how refill can become an active part of people’s everyday habits.
WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme), which manages the UK Plastics Pact, welcomed the move.
“It’s a championship challenge for the industry – we’ve all got used to convenience, but we need to protect the environment. Bottled water is a staple buy for many people, but we all know plastic waste and litter from food and drink packaging is too high and this needs to be tackled,” Harriet Lamb, WRAP chief executive, said.
“So expanding the refill system for natural source mineral water at Wimbledon is exciting and shows how we can move to alternative systems that go a long way to reduce plastic waste, particularly in such a controlled space. You can just refill your reusable water bottle. This is exactly the kind of innovation we need to happen more widely. I look forward to seeing the results of this pilot to add to our understanding of how the public will use refill, and what more could be done in the future. I hope to see similar schemes become common at other major sporting and cultural events – Danone have laid down the challenge!
“We’re pleased that Danone UK and Ireland, as an active participant of the UK Plastics Pact, has taken the step to showcase a high-profile reuse trial of evian waters with the players and spectators at Wimbledon. That definitely deserves a centre-court cheer.
Sarah Cumming, vice president, marketing, Danone UK & Ireland, added: “Health is at the heart of everything we do, and we work to offer healthier nutrition to consumers in the most sustainable way possible. Our water business is about delivering our pure natural source waters to consumers to enjoy. The methods in which we do that is an area of focus for continuous change and improvement.
“To do that we need to continually investigate, invest in and test new innovations. We are excited to offer evian natural mineral water refill at Wimbledon and for this to be a proof of concept to see the role refill could play in our natural source water portfolio more broadly.
“We are incredibly proud of our long-standing relationship with one of the world’s most prestigious sporting events, and prouder still to be launching possibly the most significant innovation in our waters portfolio with them at Wimbledon.”
Spectators can purchase a QR code for £5 which will enable them to refill with evian natural mineral water throughout their day. The code can be used to refill any refillable container. Alongside this, spectators will also be able to purchase a limited-edition evian refillable bottle to mark the occasion, with refills for £25.
The evian player refill system will continue for a second year with players provided with their own reusable bottles that can be refilled with evian natural mineral water, on-court and at designated player areas, including practice courts, dressing rooms and restaurants.
Building on the experience and insights from last year, this year evian has increased the reach to include more of the players’ teams and optimised the system to increase the ease of bottle return and reuse.
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