World Refill Day takes place on the 16th June every year run by the award-winning campaigning organisation City to Sea. City to Sea has focused its efforts on raising awareness of the problem of plastic pollution in previous campaigns. Their research shows a growing concern in consumers about the amount of single-use plastic in their weekly shop. While City to Sea’s polling demonstrates that people are looking for products in reusable packaging, demand is frustrated as shoppers simply can’t find refill and reuse at UK supermarkets. So World Refill Day 2024 revolved around a call for international policy change to prioritise the transition from single-use to reuse to change business behaviours.
Under the campaign headline Step Up For Reuse, City to Sea launched an open letter calling for a commitment to refill and reuse, asking political parties to set legally-binding, time-bound targets to accelerate the transition to reuse in the UK and to support of a robust Global Plastics Treaty. Over 40 NGOs, businesses and celebrities supported and signed the open letter, and in the UK the team delivered a copy of the letter to political party headquarters in London to reinforce their asks, alongside partners and collaborators. City to Sea provided the tools for individuals across the world to write to their leaders asking them to pledge their support for reuse online on their own channels.
The campaign deepened political advocacy with the new government in the UK and beyond, reinforcing the call for binding reuse targets. A Parliamentary Reception was postponed to October 24 due to the General Election, attended by MPs, local government and industry leaders.
Here are the top line impact stats:
· Activity more than 60 countries around the world
· Over 4,000 social media posts using #WorldRefillDay
· Estimated media reach of over 7.5 million views
· More than 40 NGOs, businesses and celebrities signed our open letter calling for legislative change and reuse targets.
· 12,000 video views of our World Refill Day films
· Support from 25 celebrities and influencers including Rob Rinder, Deborah Meaden, Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall, Aesha Scott, Dee Caffari and many more…
