East London Liquor Co (ELLC) has rolled out a refill programme that allows consumers to refill any 70cl spirits bottle with ELLC spirits.

“All we do is send a 20-litre container of each spirit to the shops involved and they simply refill the reusable dispense containers as required,” said the distillery’s founder, Alex Wolpert. “We apply a paper-based sticker to the bottles that can be reused many times and because all deliveries to London shops will be on cargo bikes by Pedal Me, there’s very little carbon output and minimal waste.”

The scheme is currently available at the distillery shop in East London as well as the ELLC shop in Borough Market. A duty stamp sticker is applied with the ELLC label and the price for a refill will be the same as a standard bottle – £22.50 for gin and vodka and £23.50 for white rum.

“Of course we acknowledge that the production of spirits, like any manufacturing process, comes at a cost for the environment,” added Wolpert. “We know that just by existing we are part of the problem, but we hope this goes a little way to reducing our footprint as we strive to unlock other carbon savings down the line.”