Refill it, reuse it – and then recycle it

This Sunday marks World Refill Day, a day of action that aims to accelerate the transition away from single-use materials and towards refill and reuse.

A key goal behind a lot of the work we do at Resource Futures is reuse, and with good reason. Despite improvements over the past decade, we fail to recycle 83% of the plastic we use. Instead we incinerate it, send it to landfill or litter our streets, beaches, rivers and seas with plastic.

This makes finding ways to reuse material a critical element of a more sustainable, circular society. Some of our projects have seen sustained success in shifting attitudes towards a more reuse-first mindset.

Our Gloucestershire Real Nappy Project, which promotes environmental and cost savings benefits of using washable cloth nappies, has focused on increasing uptake of pre-loved nappies to help close the loop. Meanwhile, our Circular Economy team has scoped out adding reuse to household recycling centres in North Wales.

Our Community RePaint project, which gives unused paint a new lease of life, has added several new schemes. This includes new operations at two household recycling centres in Staffordshire following a successful pilot scheme. In Devon, our Waste and Recycling Advisor team has visited 15,000+ households in the past year to increase recycling rates.

To turn the tide towards a more sustainable society, collaboration is absolutely paramount. Working with Somerset Climate Action Network, our Community Action Groups Network in Somerset recently brought residents, businesses and other groups together at its ‘Action for Somerset’s future’ event – exploring a number of perspectives on driving sustainable change in the county, including strategies for waste and the circular economy.

Finally, our Fixy project, which was recently shortlisted for a national award, has been criss-crossing Somerset with its bright blue van, giving residents the opportunity to bring their old electrical equipment in for repair, or donate it for reuse by others.

A lot of the focus – and the lion’s share of the statistics we collect – around sustainability is centred on recycling. While it is a vital part of the solution, it’s far from the only tool we have in the cupboard. Events like World Refill Day give us a welcome opportunity to recognise this.

This article forms part of our monthly newsletter, which features challenging opinions, thought-provoking ideas and inspiring stories around circularity, sustainability and resource management. You can sign up to receive it using the form below.