Cut single-use plastic with smarter workplace water solutions

May 22, 2026

Single-use plastic is a justifiably hot topic right now.

It's widely recognised, and no secret, that discarded / dumped plastics from food and drink containers - whether intact or broken down over time - frequently end up in the world's oceans and waterways, with damaging consequences for wildlife and human health.

A big cause of plastic waste is the single-use plastic bottles that we use to keep hydrated.

With this in mind, a good start to cutting single-use plastic can be found in the office, where a switch from plastic drinking bottles to communal filling stations - such as those offered by Aquacool - can work wonders at reducing the amount of plastic waste we produce.

This makes sense from a business as well as an ecological point of view.

On-site water stations mean fewer deliveries, less storage space, reduced waste collection costs and lower maintenance costs.

Find out more below.

Bottle filling water stations
Encouraging workers to reuse bottles is all well and good, but it is worthless without giving them access to refill stations, where they can refill and replenish a single drinking vessel easily.

Traditional water dispensing systems and water fountains sometimes aren't suitable here, as they don't always provide the clearance required for tall bottles and vessels used to store water.

A bottle filling station is made for the job of refilling reusable bottles – its dispensing nozzle gives the clearance needed for the tallest sports drinking vessels.

The unit can also be wall-mounted and installed discreetly, so it doesn't take up floor space in the office.

Mains-fed dispensers
Many filling stations are still fed by a large plastic bottle that needs to be replaced once it has been drained.

This reduces plastic waste, as the large refill bottles are reused and then recycled at the end of their useful lives.

If you want to go the extra mile and cut plastic entirely out of your office hydration system, a mains-fed system is the way to go.

A mains-fed dispenser is connected straight into the main water supply, cutting out the need for plastic bottles entirely - and reducing the need for an employee or external provider to regularly swap out empty bottles.

An internal carbon filter reduces the chlorine taste and odours, and the refrigeration system keeps the water chilled.

It's also worth considering suppliers that take their environmental responsibilities seriously. Companies that actively work to reduce their own plastic footprint - through bottle reuse schemes, recycling programmes, or sustainable operations - offer a step further towards a genuinely greener workplace hydration setup.

Touchless dispensers
The post-COVID workplace is a different one from the one we knew before the pandemic - understandably, people are naturally more conscious of hygiene than they were before.

It's therefore a good idea, whatever kind of water-dispensing system you go with, to provide a touchless dispensing mechanism and UV sterilisation.

‘Hands-free dispensers’ are sensor-controlled and serve up potable water without the user having to physically depress a lever or otherwise touch the serving unit.

Sparkling
Nowadays, not everyone wants simple tepid or chilled water.  

A water dispensing system that can also serve up sparkling water encourages better hydration habits among a workforce with diverse tastes, and means they don't have to resort to bottled water.

You can often choose from dedicated sparkling dispensers, sparkling countertop units, or, for extra convenience, 'all-in-one' taps that serve up chilled, boiling and sparkling water.

Conclusion
There's no excuse for using single-use plastic bottles in the modern office.

The statistics make for stark reading – the UK uses about 13 billion plastic bottles per year, around 7.7 billion of which are plastic water bottles, and around 5.5 billion annually are not recycled.