Refill shops, where customers bring their own containers to buy products such as rice, pasta, detergent and shampoo, have opened in many towns in recent years. Their aim is to reduce the amount of single-use plastic packaging that ends up in landfills or in the sea. Customers weigh their empty containers, fill them, and pay only for the product itself. Owners of such shops report that their customers tend to be loyal, but that attracting new ones is difficult. Many shoppers find it inconvenient to carry containers, and prices are not always lower than at supermarkets, since small shops cannot buy goods in the same quantities as large chains. Hygiene rules also add costs, as dispensers must be cleaned regularly. Some large supermarkets have started to introduce refill sections of their own. This could help the idea reach far more people, but it may also make it harder for independent refill shops to survive. Whether the overall effect on plastic waste will be large depends mainly on whether shoppers change their habits, rather than on the number of places where refilling is possible.

Refill sections in supermarkets have already forced several independent refill shops to close.