City to Sea has announced it will be concluding operations this month after ten years of campaigning to reduce plastic pollution.
The ‘scarcity and competitive nature’ of grant funding and a difficult economic landscape for corporate partners have driven the charity’s decision to close operations.
The charity previously campaigned to ban plastic cotton buds, and single-use plastic cutlery and plates, as well as polystyrene takeaway packaging in England.
In 2016, City to Sea launched the Refill app, which has been downloaded over 750,000 times and lists more than 370,000 Refill Stations worldwide.
City to Sea also launched city-wide reuse systems to demonstrate the scalability of reuse solutions, with the charity saying it achieved 97% return rates and saved over 25,000 single-use cups.
The new reuse economy desperately needs bolder commitments from governments, brands and retailers.
The closure of organisations like City to Sea signals that ‘visionary solutions risk being lost due to systemic inertia and chronic underinvestment’, the charity says.
City to Sea says progressive not-for-profit organisations cannot bear the financial and operational burden of de-risking the transition to reuse for government and business.
Commenting on the announcement, Jane Martin, CEO of City to Sea, said: “When we started, refill and reuse were nowhere to be seen in strategic roadmaps and business plans. Since then, we’ve witnessed real shifts with city-wide reuse initiatives across the UK and upcoming EPR and DRS legislations.
“But despite growing public demand for reuse, the reality is that underfunding, lack of enabling regulation, and a system still optimised for single-use have made our mission as a non-profit increasingly unsustainable.
“The new reuse economy desperately needs bolder commitments from governments, brands and retailers.”