Member Spotlight

Yardley Refillery

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The Yardley Refillery is a woman-owned business and the first refill shop if its kind in Bucks County, PA. You can bring your own containers to the store or purchase reusable ones to fill with bulk essential goods, often with more sustainable & health-conscious profiles.

Why did you become a member?

We became members because there is power in numbers and connection. The better we can collectively communicate what different aspects of a circular economy could look like, the more people and organizations will get on board. There is an uphill battle in a society that is so used to throwaway behavior, but once you show a better way and make it easy to do, change follows.

What does a circular economy mean to your organization?

Our store is a future vision for what retail in a circular economy could be like. We’re all about the RE words – rethink, reduce, reuse, refill. Once people start shopping here, they find it slower and more mindful; a retail rethink. They only buy what they need, thereby reducing excess product and packaging. Customers are encouraged to bring their own containers, reusing what they have at home and refilling daily essential goods.

How is your organization practicing circularity?

We practice circularity in three main ways. First and foremost is our reusable container model; customers have truly embraced this and regularly BYO jars, bags and bottles to fill up. After our first year in business, we’ve diverted 37,550 containers from landfill. Secondly, our core suppliers have adopted circular supply chain models, wherein they ship product (soaps, shampoo, detergents) in totes and drums that we ship back to them empty to be cleaned and reused. Third is around materials. We try to avoid plastic wherever possible and only sell glass or aluminum bottles and supply paper bags. We source products made with rapidly renewable resources like bamboo, most of our food is organic and formulations are clean.

How can others advance the circular economy?

Make circular living personal. By starting small, taking one step at a time in your daily life at home. Composting, repairing, reusing, shopping second-hand, shopping local, buying less and better longer-lasting items, and finding your local Refillery!