Picture © Stewart Attwood
Edinburgh’s plastic-free and zero waste store The Refillery has been named one of the most exceptional businesses in the UK for its contribution to economic, environmental and social vibrancy.
Just a year after throwing open its doors, The Refillery has beaten its sales projections, revitalised its local area, created 5 jobs and saved over 120,000 pieces of plastic packaging from being used.
Founder and Director Kelly Wright opened The Refillery after a 20-year career in food manufacturing, during which she became aware of the impact plastic pollution was having on the environment.
Kelly got involved in numerous packaging reducing initiatives but felt this was only scratching the surface of the problem, believing we all, as consumers, need to change the way we shop and stop buying single-use items in plastic packaging. So she quit her job to launch Edinburgh’s largest plastic-free store.
The Refillery opened on 12th January 2019 and now stocks over 800 product lines. Kelly used her savings to meet half of the startup costs of the business, with the remainder coming in an ‘ethical loan’ from Scottish responsible finance provider, DSL Business Finance.
This week Kelly’s business was named one of just 3 UK finalists for an “Environmental Sustainability of the Year” Award in the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards, funded by the Citi Foundation.
Kelly Wright said:
“We’re delighted to be a finalist for the Environmental Sustainability Award and to be recognised for the hard work this year in making plastic free shopping more accessible. It was a huge personal leap of faith, but it’s been a fantastic year with so much support from staff, suppliers, customers and from DSL.”
Over a fifth of food is wasted in the UK. By choosing to refill rather than buy in packets, customers reduce food waste, save money, and use less packaging. The Refillery has over 50 gravity-fed dispensers and numerous scoop bins of delicious, colourful and fresh food and grocery staples. More than 1,000 shoppers visit each week. They bring their own containers and weigh them before and after filling with The Refillery’s easy-to-use system which deducts the weight of their jars, bottles, bags or boxes.
Stuart Yuill of DSL Business Finance commented:
“DSL is delighted to have supported Kelly on her business journey as she has established The Refillery building on her experience of the food industry. She has approached the project with a wonderful combination of drive, passion and enthusiasm which, allied to her industry knowledge, has resulted in The Refillery having become well established in a short time.
“The shortlisting is recognition of the endeavours of the entire team and their commitment to both the business and environment is a fine example of how to harness sector knowledge to create an environmentally friendly, sustainable enterprise. We look forward to seeing the business grow and prosper in the future as we all become ever more conscious of the need to embrace sustainability in all aspects of twenty-first century living.”
The UK’s 5.6 million microenterprises – businesses with less than 10 staff – account for 96% of all businesses, and employ over 9 million people. Some would not exist at all without the financial and business support they access from the UK’s ethical “responsible finance” sector, which in 2019 lent £171 million to thousands of credit-worthy businesses and social enterprises rejected by or unable to access finance from mainstream lenders.
“Microenterprises like The Refillery play a vital role in strengthening communities throughout the UK by creating jobs, unlocking opportunities, and addressing social and environmental challenges,” said Bob Annibale, Global Director, Citi Inclusive Finance and Community Development.
“The Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards recognise the positive impact they are having on a local and national scale, and these exceptional finalists and the responsible finance providers which supported them all contribute to the economic, social and environmental vibrancy of their communities. We are proud to support the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards and the eighth cohort of finalists in the UK.”
Theodora Hadjimichael, Chief Executive of Responsible Finance, said:
“With impressive entrants from all over the UK, entrepreneurs and their businesses needed to be truly remarkable to make the shortlist. Kelly and The Refillery show a sustainable business can address today’s biggest challenges. A thriving enterprise, it also demonstrates the impact of responsible finance providers, embedded within the communities they serve.”
DSL itself is also in the running for an award from The Citi Foundation, recognised as a finalist in the “Resilience” category.
The Refillery and DSL Business Finance must now wait until 9 July 2020 when the winners of the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards will be announced.
Read about the other finalists here.