The eco startup company refillme produces on-tap dispensers for selling household cleaning products such as dishwashing solutions, laundry detergents, and floor cleaner. The process at refillme is simple: we refill empty bottles with household liquids to decrease the plastic waste. In 6 months, we’ve prevented the production of 220 plastic bottles. refillme is promoting the growth of zero-waste households, and also the growth of the circular economy in Kazakhstan. According to United Nations statistics, 40% of plastic produced is packaging, which is used just once and then discarded. This issue of single-use plastics, and also the low rate of plastic-recycling overall, is causing the vast amount of plastic in landfills to end up in the oceans. By reducing the amount of plastic waste in landfills, refillme is preventing the creation of microplastics, which are tiny particles that enter water sources and threaten the health of animals and humans.

For the refillme team, our most important achievement since we began 6 months ago is that we prevented the production of 220 plastic packaging. In turn, this saved 20,900 litres of water and reduced CO2 emissions by 18 kg. All of this also led to the reduction of usage of oil, electricity and landfill space. Although 220 bottles may not seem like a lot, the ripple effects of the reduction of waste are vast. We at refillme are so excited to make and continue even greater long-lasting positive impact. The most important factor, the refillme team consists of girls who are engineering students, and also me Economics student. By doing what we like, we would like to promote this idea: no matter what gender you are you can still make the world better.

https://www.instagram.com/refillme_kz/

• Kazakhstan

The project is replicable and is intended for a bigger scale. With correct resource allocation and employed business model we strive to replicate the project to have a wider outreach. Thus, we are attracting investments that benefit both refillme and potential partners.

We refill empty bottles with household liquids to decrease the plastic waste. In 6 months, we’ve prevented the production of 220 plastic bottles. refillme is promoting the growth of zero-waste households, and also the growth of the circular economy in Kazakhstan. According to United Nations statistics, 40% of plastic produced is packaging, which is used just once and then discarded. This issue of single-use plastics, and also the low rate of plastic-recycling overall, is causing the vast amount of plastic in landfills to end up in the oceans. By reducing the amount of plastic waste in landfills, refillme is preventing the creation of microplastics, which are tiny particles that enter water sources and threaten the health of animals and humans.

ICTs help reach wider outreach. We actively promote refillme throughout Kazakhstan using various information and communication tools.