Circular Communities Scotland is pleased to share findings from our recent membership survey, designed to help us listen to our members, inform our future policy campaigning work and better understand the key challenges our sector is currently facing.

The results will allow us to continue to support, represent and advocate for our members through key policy and communications opportunities.

The survey was published on the 13th of April 2026 and closed on the 4th of May 2026, with 103 members taking part, representing 38% of our membership.

We’d like to thank every member who responded to the survey, working to have their voices heard, exhibit their expertise and commit to shaping a strong future for Scotland’s circular third sector.

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The survey received responses from member organisations of varying sizes and incomes, including from small volunteer-led projects and grassroots organisations through to larger national charities and social enterprises with more than 20 employees.

Nearly three quarters of respondents identified reuse as a core area of their work, with recycling, repair and education also strongly represented. This distribution closely mirrors the wider makeup of the Circular Communities Scotland network.

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Members were asked to rank how much various issues were impacting them, in order of severity. The survey results showed there were two key issues in particular causing challenges to Scotland’s circular third sector:

  • The funding landscape
  • Cost of running increases

More than a third of respondents identified funding as the most significant challenge they face, while over a quarter highlighted increasing costs of running services.

By contrast, issues such as environmental regulations, access to recycling outlets, recent income drops, and workforce shortages were reported as less crucial overall, although still having an impact on members. This suggests that while operational challenges remain important, the most immediate concern for many organisations is long-term sustainability and financial resilience.

Many members also provided additional written evidence describing the pressures they are facing, including increasing demand for services, uncertainty around funding, and the challenge of maintaining capacity within limited resources.

“Finances and making ends meet are our biggest challenge just now. Our income isn’t declining, but it hasn’t grown to meet our rising operating costs. The funding landscape is very challenging with far fewer successful applications last year than previously. We would also love to expand/ relocate as our current building is sub-optimal and new landlords increase the risk of eviction. Finding a large enough space that would be affordable for us has been very challenging.”

“Costs have increased across the board, not only in suppliers but also in living wage and the increases have not been at the rate of inflation as that only measures the public expenditure.”

“The charity’s broadband and WIFI cost have increased by 25% this year, salary costs have increased by 6.7%, all supply costs have increased by 8%, all this is above the rate of inflation. None of these are measured as part of inflation and none are built into grants. Grants have not risen in line with inflation in recent years, Council or Govt grants do not go up reflecting inflation. We are doing more work for less income and that is not at less finance/grants, but the value of the grant have become less value over time.”

–  anonymous Scottish Reuse charities.

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The survey also highlighted a strong desire among members to engage more directly with policy campaigning following the Scottish Parliament elections on the 7th of May 2026.

Nearly half of respondents said they plan to engage directly with MSPs, while just under a quarter indicated they would like support from Circular Communities Scotland to do this effectively.

Over half of respondents also expressed interest in helping shape the next iteration of our Reuse Manifesto, demonstrating a strong desire to influence our policy asks to best reflect our members concerns and priorities across the network.

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The findings from this survey will directly inform Circular Communities Scotland’s ongoing policy campaigning activity, including our engagement with elected representatives and future work around Scotland’s circular economy ambitions.

We will also use the findings to:

  • Review and reform our Reuse Manifesto with policy asks that reflect how our members feel about key sector issues.
  • Shape our policy communications and campaigning work.
  • Represent our members concerns to MSPs, Scottish Government, Zero Waste Scotland other key stakeholders.

“Our members bring significant social, economic and environmental benefits to their communities. However, in recent times some have been reporting significant challenges that not only mean these benefits are reduced, but that some may risk them no longer being able to operate. We were keen to understand more about the scale and type of challenge members are facing so that we can better support and represent them. We will be calling on new MSPs to do whatever they can to ensure policy conditions are in place for our members to thrive and continue to provide jobs, skills and community hubs, and to keep materials in use for longer.”
– Becky Kenton-Lake, Circular Economy Policy Officer

For more information on our policy work or to discuss the survey results, please email becky@circularcommunities.scot.