CHARITY and social enterprise City to Sea has announced it will be concluding operations this month after ten years of campaigning to stop plastic pollution at source, while driving the momentum towards reuse and refill.
Despite recent ‘tangible shifts’ towards reuse systems, City to Sea said the ‘scarcity and competitive nature’ of grant funding and ‘difficult economic times for corporate partners’ have driven the decision to close.
City to Sea’s flagship Refill app, launched in 2016, has been downloaded over 750,000 times and lists more than 370,000 Refill Stations worldwide. The charity’s campaigns have helped to deliver milestone policy wins in the UK, including the ban on plastic cotton buds through the #SwitchTheStick campaign backed by over 150,000 people. The #CutTheCutlery campaign led to the ban of single-use plastic cutlery and plates, as well as polystyrene takeaway packaging in England.
Additionally, City to Sea successfully demonstrated the viability of scalable reuse solutions through city-wide reuse systems, achieving 97% return rates and saving over 25,000 single-use cups.
Recent polling from City to Sea revealed 72% of UK consumers want to see more reusable, refillable, and returnable options where they shop, with 76% willing to use refillable packaging for everyday items. The organisation said voluntary commitments from business have failed to meet this growing demand and deliver significant impact.
Jane Martin, CEO of City to Sea, said, “We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved over the past decade. 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. They need to be on the right side of history: It’s time to turn talk into action, with deeper investment, legally binding regulation, and cross-sector collaboration.”
Natalie Fée, founder of City to Sea, added, “When we started out back in 2015, I couldn’t have imagined the scale of the impact we’d have in the fight against single-use plastic, from our high streets to our supermarkets, from our rivers to our seas. And none of it would have been possible without the support of our team, our board, our donors, our partners and our communities. Thank you for supporting ten years of purposeful action and environmental impact.”
City to Sea revealed it is working with partners to secure the long-term legacy of its programmes and campaigns, with announcements to be made in the coming weeks.
