By Karen Peattie
AN Edinburgh plastic-free grocery and ethical goods business is opening its third store in the capital at Moorgarth’s Waverley Market, its first city centre location.
The Refillery, founded by Kelly Wright who opened her first store in early 2019 with a vison to “help as many people as possible move towards a minimal waste lifestyle”, sells an extensive range of wholefoods, herbs and spices, detergents, and bathroom essentials that can be refilled in existing packaging or other containers.
Opening this weekend, the store at Waverley Station will also sell organic fruit and vegetables, locally-baked bread, milk in returnable glass bottles, and a range of non-plastic grocery items and ethical gifts.
The Refillery says that in just under three years, its customers have saved over half a million pieces of plastic by purchasing plastic-free alternatives. It has also worked with local producers to create circular supply systems.
Ms Wright said: “Waverley Market is such a great location for us to continue our mission to make plastic-free shopping accessible to more people.”
The Refillery will showcase local food suppliers and offer a deposit return scheme for coffee cups which it claims is the first of its kind in Edinburgh.
Offering its own in-store delicatessen, The Refillery will work with businesses including Planet Kuku, IJ Mellis cheesemonger, Union of Genius soups, Eteaket, Chocolate Tree, Edinburgh Fermentarium, and Unorthodox Roasters.
There will also be a core range of refillable foods, meal solution recipe kits, and chilled and carbonated water refills on tap along with a range of kombucha flavours.
Moorgarth’s director of innovation, Daryll Bunce, noted: “We feel strongly about what they [The Refillery] do and believe they will help us to encourage more of our customers and visitors to the city to move towards more of a minimal waste lifestyle.
“We continue to work together with local and independent businesses to give them a platform to showcase their offering here at Waverley Market and we look forward to continuing this journey with The Refillery.”
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