In October 2025, I made one the hardest decision of my career: closing City to Sea after a decade of pioneering refill, return and reuse systems across the UK and globally. We’d proven reuse can work, running groundbreaking trials in retail and food-to-go, preventing millions of single-use items via the Refill Return app, and convening 950 people from 15 countries at the Global Reuse Summit. But despite this progress, I’m seeing talented innovators struggle alone, facing regulatory uncertainty and a market fundamentally stacked against them.
The need for reuse hasn’t diminished, it has intensified. With Extended Producer Responsibility fees now landing on balance sheets and the global refillable packaging market projected to reach $189 billion by 2030, businesses are finally asking serious questions about their packaging costs. Yet they’re doing so in isolation, duplicating efforts and missing the commercial advantages that come from working together.
That’s why I’m launching the UK Reuse Alliance.
For decades, the recycling industry has shown what’s possible when a sector organises collectively. From virtually nothing in the 1990s, it’s grown into a £24 billion industry employing nearly 150,000 people. Reuse has the potential to match or exceed this—creating jobs, revitalising high streets, and delivering the circular economy we desperately need. But we can’t get there with individual pilots and isolated innovations.
The challenge isn’t whether reuse works, we know it does. Germany’s deposit return scheme achieves 98% return rates. France has unlocked €100 million for reuse infrastructure by ringfencing just 5% of EPR fees. McDonald’s own research showed that partial reuse scenarios fail economically, but that’s precisely the point: piecemeal approaches can’t compete with entrenched single-use systems. We need scale from the start.
What’s missing is the connective tissue, the unified voice that can influence policy, the shared infrastructure that reduces costs, the collective credibility that attracts investment. Reuse businesses are building the future but shouldering the burden alone. Without strategic clarity and collaborative advocacy, growth will remain slow and opportunities will slip away.
The UK Reuse Alliance will bring together everyone in the ecosystem, from start-ups to established corporations: reuse pioneers, packaging manufacturers, logistics providers, tech platforms, retailers, and service providers. Together, we’ll create the conditions for reuse to thrive, ensuring legislation enables rather than hinders, unlocking partnerships across the value chain, and establishing reuse as viable, scalable and profitable.
By bringing stakeholders into a circle of trust, we will unlock action. The market is shifting. EPR is here. Consumer demand is growing. Policy levers are moving. The question is whether reuse businesses shape what comes next or watch from the sidelines.
I’ve spent 25 years bridging brands, retail, sustainability, and systems change. I’ve seen what’s possible when industry organises. The UK should lead in building the infrastructure, creating the jobs, and establishing the legacy that future generations deserve.
The moment is now. Let’s do this together!
Sources:
- Global refillable and reusable packaging market projection: Mordor Intelligence, “Refillable and Reusable Packaging Market” (2025-2030)
- UK recycling industry value and employment: Environmental Services Association (2024)
- Germany deposit return scheme: TOMRA Industry Reports
- Designing Effective Reuse Policy, regional recommendations from Europe, University of Portsmouth and Global Reuse Summit Report from Resource Media
- McDonald’s Report, The Complex Realities of Reusable Packaging in Europe, October 2025
UK Reuse Alliance 