A MOVE to stop 25,000 plastic bottles from entering the waste stream this year is being made by Pembrokeshire's Bluestone National Park Resort.

To coincide with World Refill Day today, Wednesday June 16, Bluestone has announced it will no longer sell plastic-bottled water anywhere on the resort.

The decision is part of a long-term sustainability drive by Bluestone.

Two years ago, all staff were given reusable drinks flasks, which reduced plastic water bottle and disposable coffee cup use in staff areas by over 12,000 items per year.

The new move will come into full effect on July 16, to kick off the start of Bluestone's Summer Festival Season.

Visitors will be encouraged to bring along their own reusable water bottle which they can fill up for free, and to download the Refill app via www.refill.org.uk

This allows them to search for hundreds of tap water Refill stations around Wales.

There are already three Refill stations at Bluestone, where around 60 per cent of the tap water comes from a natural bore hole on the site.

Another three stations will be added before the Summer Festival season.

Guests are also offered a ten per cent discount on hot drinks if they bring a reusable cup to any of the resort’s outlets instead of asking for a takeaway cup.

The move forms part of a new partnership for Bluestone with environmental organisation City To Sea, who created the Refill app.

New research carried out by City To Sea and Friends of the Earth reveals that plastic pollution outdoors causes feelings of frustration and anger amongst people in Wales.

Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed said they would like to see more refill and re-use options for plastic.

Bluestone's head of corporate responsibility, Marten Lewis, said:

“A long-term ambition of ours is to eliminate unnecessary single-use plastic across the resort – and as City to Sea’s research demonstrates, our customers care about this too.

"We have made significant progress, already reducing our single use material by 200,000 items in 2019.

"We know there is still more to be done, but this latest announcement marks a great step forward, and we want to thank our teams and of course, our guests, for all their efforts to reduce reliance on single use plastic as we continue to work towards a more sustainable future.”

Hannah Osman, Refill Wales manager from City to Sea added: “This new partnership between Bluestone National Park Resort and Refill Wales is a significant step forward for the campaign.

"I hope this shows other tourist attractions and businesses in Wales who are thinking about making a similar commitment that not only is it welcomed by environmental campaigners, but by customers, too.”