The shops provide products like shampoo, body wash, and laundry liquid for refilling, encouraging parents, teachers, and the community to cut down on single-use plastics by bringing their own containers. The venture has been made possible by funding from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s (GMCA) eco refill programme in partnership with Pupil Profit, an initiative to encourage eco refill shops, with additional support from the council.
Pupils from Heap Bridge Village Primary School at their eco shop with our Environment Education Officer.
Jane Ellison, year 6 teacher at Castleton Primary School, said:
“Our new eco refill shop is an important step in our journey as a Gold Rights Respecting School working towards Eco Schools status.
Led by pupils from our Rights Respecting Team, it helps children develop responsibility, environmental awareness and practical sustainability skills.
By encouraging families to reuse 500ml bottles for refills like soap and shampoo, the shop has strong potential to reduce plastic waste while benefiting both our pupils and the wider school community.”
Councillor Tricia Ayrton, deputy leader and cabinet member for climate change and environment at Rochdale Borough Council, said:
“This initiative is designed to equip young individuals with essential enterprise skills and to help them understand how important it is to reduce waste. Additionally, it will help us reach our goal, as part of Greater Manchester, of being carbon neutral by 2038.
It’s wonderful to see that our borough now has six eco refill shops operating successfully, as we all need to play our part in reducing, repurposing and recycling plastic products.”
In addition to reducing plastic waste, each refill shop is operated by a team of students who take on roles like finance, marketing, and sales, allowing them to gain hands-on business experience. Through this, they build essential skills, grow in confidence, and learn how profit and loss work.
Pupils from Belfield Community Primary School worked in teams to create their businesses.
Gillian Ogden, teacher at Belfield Community Primary School, added:
“The children quickly developed new skills while preparing for launch day. Working in teams, they created business plans, chose the shops name and logo, set prices to balance profit and affordability, and organised the Eco Refill shop setup.
They have efficiently handled card payments, tracked sales, and promoted the business through marketing, while sharing the importance of reducing plastic waste.
The website and programme are well-structured, making it easy for them to complete the online modules and develop their green skills.”
These new initiatives build on previous successes, including at Marland Hill Community Primary and St Peter’s RC Primary, who launched their shops in 2024. Hamer Community Primary School also launched their eco shop last year, which was later commended in the school’s Ofsted inspection.
Each year, UK households dispose of approximately 90 billion pieces of plastic packaging, amounting to more than 2 million metric tons of waste. If it isn’t reused or recycled, dumped plastic can be very damaging to the climate and take centuries to break down.
