The reuse charity said this morning (25 January) in its social impact report for 2023 that 2.6 million items were reused last year. This is down from 2.7 million tonnes in 2022 and a million tonnes down from five years ago.
The Reuse Network said the charity reuse sector is now facing a dual challenge of increased demand for its services and a sharp decrease in available resources.
In the report, the charity said: “The cost-of-living crisis has left many households struggling to make ends meet, leading to a surge in demand for affordable goods provided by charities; all whilst declining retail sales and people holding on to items for longer mean that donations to reuse charities have reduced substantially.”
2022
For 2022, the charity explained that that while reuse is increasing, it is yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels (see letsrecycle.com story).
Using the above statistics when compared with last year. The tonnage of products prevented from being waste was 92,053 in 2022. However, the charity helped an additional 300,000 (35%) households, which it put down to the cost-of-living crisis.
‘Tough’
Craig Anderson, chief executive of the Reuse Network, said: “Reuse Network has been dealing with this social problem for over 30 years, and things have never been as tough as they are today. There is an urgent need for support and collaboration and we would welcome greater involvement with the Government to work together to break the cycle of poverty. The reuse sector in the UK requires support to navigate this challenging landscape to ensure it can continue to provide essential goods and services to those in need.
“It is about having a strong and practical response to the current state of the UK and establishing collaboration and partnerships with each other and with external parties.”
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