Reuse and Recycling Social Enterprises in the European Union (RREUSE)

1. Reuse and Recycling Social Enterprises in the European Union (RREUSE) 2nd Annual Community Reuse Network Ireland Conference 10/11/2011 Michal Len RREUSE Network Coordinator

2. Presentation outline • Introduction to RREUSE and members • Purpose of RREUSE and main activities • 2 Examples of RREUSE in action • WEEE Recast • The European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR) and the Waste Watchers Campaign • Questions

3. RREUSE: A quick overview • Founded in 2001 • Brings together national and regional networks of social enterprises whose main activities are reuse and recycling - promote a sustainable model of development addressing social, environmental and economic concerns • 12 different member states • Approximately 42,000 Full Time Equivalent employees and over 120,000 volunteers work within our 21 member networks across 12 Member States

4. Handle primarily four waste streams : Biowaste WEEE Furniture Textiles

5. RREUSE activities • Monitoring and influencing both EU Environmental and Social Policies (e.g. WEEE, WFD, Social Taxation, Biowaste etc. ) • Foster and exchange best practice in the field of reuse and recycling (e.g. setting up of accredited reuse centres in Scotland based on Komosie model) • Participate in the development of Social Economy enterprises and projects in the environmental field • Participation and coordination of EU funded projects (e.g. Life+ LOWaste, EWWR) • Forging partnerships both within and outside of Europe (e.g. E-Marketplace together with St. Vincents in the U.S.A and members of RREUSE)

6. Examples of RREUSE in action • WEEE Recast • European Week for Waste Reduction and the Waste Watchers Campaign

7. Recast of WEEE Directive • A revision of EU legislation promoting the collection and recycling of electric and electronic equipment (Directive 2002/96/EC), in force since 2003 • RREUSE wants to give preparation for reuse of WEEE on the ground the best possible chance

8. Issues experienced in the field of WEEE reuse • Poor transportation and handling to and from collection points • lack of access to all collection points (especially retail collection points) • Diversity of ways among member states in which WEEE is prepared for reuse (not necessarily a problem but one which is currently being addressed at the EU level) • Planned obsolescence • Rogue reusers/recyclers (often due to a lack of monitoring of the reuse waste stream)

9. Policy proposals by rreuse • Separate 5% prepare for reuse target • Small appliances to have a separate target • For all first collection points to provide the possibility to separate potentially reusable items and to grant access to accredited reuse centres • Free of charge access to information about reparability of products and location of hazardous materials from producers • Creation of European minimum preparation for reuse standards for WEEE

10. Has RREUSE been successful so far? • So far, YES! • Amendments proposed by RREUSE have been adopted by the ENVI Committee in the European Parliament • BUT: EU Policy making needs the agreement of the European Parliament and the European Council (governments of Member States) in order for the legislation to be passed • Negotiations between institutions are now underway and we will know in January if we have been successful

12. Purpose of EWWR: • Raising awareness about waste reduction and promoting changes in production and consumption patterns • ims to promote sustainable waste reduction actions, to highlight the impact of our consumption on the environment and on climate change, and to make known the policies of the EU and Members • Focus on 5 main themes/activities: • Paper waste reduction • Food waste reduction • Repair/reuse • Excessive packaging waste reduction • Clean-up days • According to the last count, during the 2010 Week 4346 EWWR actions were implemented – Twice as many as in 2009 • http://www.ewwr.eu/actions/search

13. Waste Watchers Campaign • Waste Watchers is a coordinated action around Europe, under the umbrella RREUSE, that took placed locally, in different regions around 5 countries. • It is an action that encourages general public to participate in waste prevention while they at once visualize the amount of CO2 avoided with their action • During the EWWR shop assistants in all participating shops weigh every product sold in store, including bulky waste, furniture, white goods, textiles and smaller items. This will either be done physically using a pair of scales, or calculated using an average weight chart. • The weight of these reused products were collected, added up and communicated daily to both members of the public in participating shops and those taking part in the event, to keep track of how many tonnes of waste is diverted from landfill over the period of just one week. • During 2010 edition 5 European countries and 6 partners participated in the Campaign: Spain, France, Belgium, Austria, Finland

14. EWWR Awards 2010 • Won The Jury’s favourite: Waste Watchers - AERESS (Spain), in collaboration with RREUSE (European Coordination) • 633.8 tonnes of waste was avoided • 30.285 visitors

15. Thanks for your attention