On 2 February, BRITA was proud to host a landmark roundtable in Parliament bringing together leaders from across UK sport, policy and sustainability to tackle one of the sector’s biggest shared challenges: reducing single use plastic waste. The discussion, titled Race to Refill - Cutting Single Use Plastics in Sport, demonstrated something powerful. Across elite and grassroots sport alike, there is real ambition to move faster, work together, and make reuse the norm rather than the exception. As David Hall, Managing Director of BRITA UK, reflected during the session, sport has the credibility and audiences to normalise reuse at scale, but only if the right systems are in place.
A sector with scale and responsibility
Sport has a unique reach. From major international tournaments to local community clubs, it engages millions of people every week, bringing visibility and responsibility. Large‑scale sporting events can generate around 750,000 single‑use plastic bottles at a time, with fewer than half recycled. When multiplied across a packed sporting calendar, the environmental impact is stark.
But that same scale also creates opportunity. When sport changes, audiences notice. Habits shift. New norms are created. The roundtable made clear that the pervasiveness of single use plastic across sport gives the sector a unique opportunity to lead in the search for a solution.
Policy momentum and industry leadership
We were delighted to be joined by Henry Tufnell MP (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Martin Rhodes MP (Environmental Audit Committee), and Minister for Nature Mary Creagh CBE MP, who outlined how upcoming reforms – including the Deposit Return Scheme and changes to Extended Producer Responsibility – will support higher collection rates and better reuse outcomes, while acknowledging the need for a carefully managed transition away from today’s linear systems.
Her contribution reinforced that policy and industry must move in step. Clear frameworks and consistent expectations are essential to ensure that organisations investing in reuse infrastructure are supported, not penalised.
From pilots to shared solutions
Representatives from a swathe of local, national, and even international organisations including Sport England, the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), the London Marathon Group, and the British Association for Sustainable Sport (BASIS) brought practical insight into what works – and what still stands in the way.
A key theme raised by attendees was alignment. Awareness of the single-use plastic problem is already high, but what is needed now is infrastructure that makes sustainable choices easy for consumers, financing models that work for grassroots clubs as well as major venues, and messaging that is coherent, recognisable, and credible. Participants agreed that behaviour change only sticks when the systems around it are designed to succeed through sustained and consistent communication strategies.
Proof That Reuse Scales
BRITA’s own partnership with the LTA has shown how this is possible. By combining hydration infrastructure with clear encouragement to refill, almost half a million single‑use bottles have already been removed across the two-year partnership. That progress proves that rapid change is achievable and scalable across the sports sector when collaboration forms the basis of delivery and success.
What came through most strongly was the readiness of professional bodies, event operators and community organisations alike are prepared to rise to the challenge of reducing plastic waste, even as they recognise the scale and complexity of the task. Collective action is not optional but essential, and contributors to the roundtable highlighted the value of partnership and sharing lessons, recognising that no single organisation can solve this alone.
Collective Action, Real Impact
What came through most strongly was the readiness of professional bodies, event operators and community organisations alike are prepared to rise to the challenge of reducing plastic waste, even as they recognise the scale and complexity of the task. Collective action is not optional but essential, and contributors to the roundtable highlighted the value of partnership and sharing lessons, recognising that no single organisation can solve this alone. The journey away from single use plastic in sport will not be simple. But the conversations in Parliament showed that the will is there, the momentum is building, and the industry is ready to move forward together.
