For the fourth time, FCC Environment has worked with YouGov to ask the public about their attitudes to reuse and repair, and this year's results tell a story of remarkable consistency. Four in five people (80%) agree that every household waste and recycling centre should have a charity reuse shop onsite or nearby. That figure was 79% in 2022 and 80% last year, so support is clearly here to stay.
The challenge is no longer whether people want to reuse items. It is whether they know the option is there. Only around a quarter (26%) say their local centre has a reuse shop, and 43% don't know either way. That figure has barely moved in four years. These are not people who never use their HWRC: almost two thirds (65%) visit at least once a year, up from 57% in 2022. They are coming through the gates, but many of them have no idea a reuse shop is there.
FCC
Where shops do exist, there is still work to do more with them. More than half of people with a reuse shop nearby have never bought anything from it. Among those without one, 55% say having one would make them more likely to deposit reusable items rather than throw them away. That number has dipped slightly, underlining just how pressing it is for us as an industry to do more to show people what reuse shops offer and make them a visible, familiar part of their local community.
The wider second-hand market has grown and is now holding steady. Just over half of people (53%) buy second-hand at least once every six months, compared with 47% in 2022. Cost is still the main reason (73%), but sustainability has jumped from 37% to 47% in a single year. This gives councils two strong messages to lean on: reuse saves residents money, and it is better for the environment.
FCC
As we found last year, younger people are leading the way. One in five 18 to 24-year-olds buy second-hand items every week, compared with just 4% of over-55s. They are also the age group least likely to visit their local HWRC, with almost a quarter never going at all. A well-promoted reuse shop could be exactly what brings them in.
Repair tells a similar story. 43% of people would rather be shown how to fix a broken item than buy a new one, but only 35% had heard of repair cafés before taking the survey. Electricals (54%) and furniture (46%) top the list of things people want to repair. Cost, doubts about whether an item is worth fixing, and lack of skills are the main barriers. People are also clear that responsibility doesn't sit with the public alone: 83% agree manufacturers should make products easier and cheaper to repair.
It's clear the appetite for reuse and repair is there. The task for all of us now is to make sure the infrastructure, and just as importantly the awareness, keeps pace. That means doing more to promote reuse shops and repair cafés, make them visible and explain what they offer. If residents don't know a reuse shop or repair café exists, they can't use it, and we risk losing the momentum that has been building for years.
FCC Environment runs reuse shops at 13 HWRCs across Great Britain, selling 2,800 tonnes of second-hand goods every year. At this year's LARAC Conference, we want to work with colleagues from across the sector on how we can promote reuse more effectively, make local services easier to find and turn strong public support into greater uptake.
Refuse and Recycling Collections - FCC Environment
