Industry comes together to lobby EU for sustainable solutions
With waste increasingly a significant issue in the paddle sport industry, several leading organisations in the outdoor sector have collaborated to launch RISE, a sustainability lobbying initiative set up with the goal of reducing the sector’s impact on the environment.
Interest in paddle sports has grown considerably in recent years, with participation numbers having increased by 240% between 2019-2024* and the annual estimated figure now sitting at 8 million. While this growth is exciting for the sector, the environmental implications are causing concern to many in the industry as there is a severe lack of responsible disposal options for old, unusable kayaks and canoes.
A significant proportion of paddle sport equipment is made of composite materials, such as fibreglass, which is very difficult to recycle. The other primary material used is plastic which, though widely recycled, poses its own issues due to regional differences in how its accepted. One of RISE’s proposed solutions is the standardisation of rules across recycling facilities, to allow paddle sport practitioners to find an effective solution.
RISE insist that there are solutions that can be implemented throughout the product lifecycle – from design and manufacture, where hard-to-recycle bonded materials can be removed, to reducing packaging, and charging suppliers with retrieval of products at end of life.
The RISE initiative is led by Bob Timms, Head of Activities at PGL Beyond, the UK’s largest outdoor education provider. Bob first brought the issue to the fore in a keynote speech at the Paddle Sports Show 2023, which prompted conversations in the sector and led to several key industry partners collaborating to bring about change.**
Currently RISE comprises of representatives from Pyranha Kayaks, Peak UK, NRS, Level Six, Rotomod and DAG Kayaks, Lettmann, Kayak Session Magazine, The Paddle Sports Show, Swiss River Rafting, Trekking Hellas and the European Confederation of Outdoor Employers (EC-OE).
With a growing number of European countries represented in RISE – along with organisations from the UK, America and Canada – the group plans to lobby the EU Commission for sustainable solutions. As part of this presentation, RISE will deliver findings from an ongoing industry survey that has been distributed to manufacturers, retailers, paddle sport clubs and activity providers globally, and made available in 15 languages.
The survey remains open for submissions until 30th September 2025 and is intended to inform solutions as well as gauge the urgency of the issue. Interim findings analysed in July found that over 75% of respondents said they would be prepared to pay an additional fee at the point of purchasing if this went towards ensuring end of life disposal was better handled.
For Bob Timms, developing RISE was integral to his broader work, seeing that environmental responsibility is inseparable from the business of outdoor recreation, and the onus is on sector leaders to enact change.
“As an organisation largely made up of outdoor activity practitioners, PGL Beyond is intrinsically aligned with environmental issues and fully recognises the need to lessen our impact on the spaces that we make our livelihoods from celebrating.” Says Bob. “As sector leaders, it is within our power to influence change, and moreover it is our responsibility to help build an industry that is compatible with future society’s needs, and that’s what we intend to do through the lobbying work at RISE.”
RISE will be presenting interim findings from the industry survey at The Paddle Sports Show this Autumn in Strasbourg, France, before presenting complete findings to the EU Commission.
Are you a member of the paddle sport community? Contribute to RISE’s data collection by completing the Survey on End-of-Life Water Activities Equipment Storage and Disposal
** Watch Bob Timms’s keynote talk at The Paddle Sports Show 2024 on ‘Recycling Paddle Sports Industry Products’
* Paddle UK Annual Safety Report 2024 (Public)
