It's not a secret that I'm all for the 3R, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, so I'd do anything to stop waste, reuse what it's possible and recycle what can be recycled. All this because that's the right way to do it. Unfortunately my country is way behind other countries when it comes to recycling, even though the European Union has set some rules regarding recycling.
Today I was happy to see that Sweden has a ReTuna which is world’s first recycling mall.
The mall opened its doors in August 2015 and is located next to the Retuna Återvinningscentral recycling center at Folkestaleden 7 in Eskilstuna. It is easy for visitors to sort materials they are discarding into the containers and then drop off reusable toys, furniture, clothes, decorative items, and electronic devices in the mall’s depot, called “Returen”. In the depot, staff from AMA (Eskilstuna Municipality’s resource unit for activity, motivation and work) perform an initial culling of what is usable and what is not. The items are then distributed to the recycling shops in the mall. The shop staff then perform a second culling, where they choose what they want to repair, fix up, convert, refine – and ultimately sell. In this way, the materials are given new life. source
I would be very happy to know that what I don't need is handled by trained people and after they decide what to do with it, it might end up in someone's home and have a second life.
And the business concept is working: In 2017, ReTuna Återbruksgalleria had SEK 10.2 million in sales for recycled products. source
But, ReTuna is more than just a marketplace. It also aims to be a public educator. ReTuna organizes events, workshops, lectures, theme days, and more – all with a focus on sustainability. The folk high school Eskilstuna Folkhögskola conducts its one-year education program “Recycle Design – Återbruk” in the premises. There are also conference rooms, where guests can hold climate-smart meetings. Organic lunch and baked treats are on offer at Café Returama. source
This is the best part. Educating people is the most important thing. How many times I've seen plastic bottles thrown into the garbage container, cardboard boxes also thrown into the garbage container even though the recycling container was one meter away. I guess I will never understand how can people be so ignorant. Why is it so hard to do the right thing?
These people knew how to handle things, it's a whole circuit, collecting, recycling, reselling and also educating people. As you can see, the furniture of the cafe is very unique, the chairs are not identical, I guess those are also recycled, the round tables are made of wooden boards and the whole place looks great.
I hope they set an example and others are going to follow.