Newmarket Leisure Centre has become the first venue in Suffolk to install an ape2o water-refilling machine, as part of Abbeycroft Leisure’s ongoing commitment to reducing single-use plastic and supporting a healthier, more sustainable community.
The new machine, dispensing chilled still and sparkling filtered water at a fraction of the price of bottled water, is now available to members, visitors and the local community at the Exning Road site — marking the first installation of its kind in the county.
Around seven million empty plastic bottles are thrown into UK landfill every single day, where they can take a thousand years to break down. Meanwhile, that plastic doesn’t disappear — it fragments into microplastics that enter the food chain, with some estimates suggesting people could be ingesting several grams of plastic a week without knowing it. Traditional free water fountains, meanwhile, have fallen out of favour with the public because of hygiene concerns, leaving a gap that bottled water has filled at a real environmental cost.
ape2o is a UK-based, Certified B Corporation on a mission to eradicate single-use plastic water bottles from everyday life. Its machines use an advanced three-stage filtration system combined with ultraviolet light sterilisation, cleaning the water to a molecular level without anyone needing to touch the source, making it some of the purest drinking water available.
Customers can use their own bottle or buy one of ape2o’s plastic-free stainless steel bottles, refilling for a small fee—typically 25p per half-litre. Uniquely among water companies, ape2o donates 10% of all sales to marine and freshwater conservation and clean-up projects. Across its network, ape2o and its site partners have already prevented over a million plastic bottles from being produced, saving over 80 tonnes of crude oil and more than 50 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere — impact that also strengthens each partner site’s own sustainability credentials.
ape2o’s machines are already a familiar sight at major train stations, zoos and visitor attractions across the country, including award-recognised installations with operators such as South Western Railway, London Zoo and Landsec.
This partnership brings that same technology to Suffolk for the very first time.
Abbeycroft is Suffolk’s largest independent leisure operator and a not-for-profit charitable social enterprise, reinvesting any surplus back into the services and communities it serves. Sustainability sits at the heart of that mission — alongside physical activity, health and wellbeing — and introducing the ape2o machine is a natural extension of Abbeycroft’s wider environmental commitments.
A partnership made possible by local collaboration
The installation follows close collaboration between Abbeycroft, ape2o and West Suffolk Council, with Cllr Janne Jarvis, West Suffolk Councillor for Newmarket North, playing an instrumental role in bringing the two organisations together to deliver the project.
Founder and CEO of ape2o, Anthony Newman, said: “This is the culmination of a great sustainability drive by the private and public sector working together. On the one hand, a fantastic team at Abbeycroft with the fitness and health of Suffolk residents front of mind; on the other, a visionary councillor at West Suffolk Council truly driving change for good.
“We’re proud at ape2o to provide the right solution to encourage the public to move away from single-use plastic bottles and build better refill habits. We envisage this will be the first of several more installations, with Abbeycroft continuing to be a voice of influence in the local community. Onwards and upwards!”
Cllr Janne Jarvis said: “The conversation that led to this started with Newmarket’s pioneering, first-of-its- kind reverse vending machine scheme. I’m incredibly proud that what we started here has opened the door to further innovation and helped attract forward-thinking companies like ape2o to Newmarket.
“For me, reverse vending, refill and reuse are all working together to tackle single-use plastic. Newmarket is now leading the way nationally in developing practical, pioneering solutions to reduce plastic and protect our environment.
“Abbeycroft have been a fantastic partner and I particularly want to thank Tyler Coulson, their Environmental Manager, whose determination and hard work helped turn this into a reality. They are always looking ahead and embracing new ideas, and they are a real credit to Newmarket.”
Daniel Infanti, Operations Director at Abbeycroft, said: “Being a not-for-profit social enterprise means everything we do has to work for our community and for the environment we all share — it’s genuinely part of our ethos, not just a nice-to-have. Cutting down on single-use plastic at Newmarket Leisure Centre is a simple, practical step, but it has a real impact given how many of our members and visitors use it every week. We’re proud that Abbeycroft is leading the way as the first site in Suffolk to offer this, and we hope to see it rolled out further across our centres.”
Cllr Ian Shipp, Cabinet Member for Leisure, said: “Making sustainable choices can have a positive impact on both the environment and people’s health and wellbeing. This collaboration between Abbeycroft, West Suffolk Council’s leisure provider, and ape2o is a great example of organisations working together to deliver practical changes that benefit residents, communities and the environment we all share through reducing plastic usage.”
Abbeycroft hopes the success of the Newmarket installation will pave the way for further ape2o machines across its network of centres, continuing to support both public health and environmental goals across West Suffolk.
For more information about Newmarket Leisure Centre and Abbeycroft’s facilities, visit https://www.abbeycroft.org.uk/
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