RREUSE (Reuse and Recycling European Union Social Enterprises) is an international nonprofit network that links social enterprises active in the environmental field of reuse, repair and recycling. Its main areas of focus are environmental protection, social equity, and economic viability.

Mission and Activity

RREUSE supports the social and circular enterprise community at the European Union level for policies in favor of repair and reuse of end-of-life products. RREUSE is currently working towards an inclusive

circular economy A circular economy (also referred to as circularity and CE) is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. CE aims ...

based on re-use and repair. Currently, RREUSE is based in Belgium with 102,000 employees, trainees and volunteers working across more than 29 countries.RREUSE
About us
accessed 16 May 2023 RREUSE is currently representing re-use and recycling social enterprises, awareness, and research. The association also partners in international projects, working with universities and research centres such as the LOWaste Project or the Quali Pro Second Hand Project II. In 2011, RREUSE received the

European Week for Waste Reduction The European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR)ACR+ - EWWR presentation
, 2009 was launched as a 3-year projec ...

award for that campaign.

Origin

Interests in social enterprises working together in environmental services increased during 1999-2001. A few events and projects were set by a few organisations from the social economy sector. Some organisations also started working together on the forthcoming European

WEEE Directive The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive) is the European Community Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) which, together with the RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU, became European La ...

(adopted in 2001), to address the concern about the possible impact of the WEEE-Directive on social enterprises working in the recycling and reuse sector. In November 2000, a decision was made to develop a European network of social enterprises working in the waste sector to provide a forum for political debates and unfolding legislation in Brussels on a more regular basis. A network of 17 social enterprises was constituted on 26 February 2001. Representatives from the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

, Belgium Ministry for Social Economy, and the Directorate Environment of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

expressed their general support. RREUSE was founded in August 2022 under

Belgian law The legal system of Belgium is based on the Napoleonic code. The Napoleonic code is the French civil code which was issued between 1804 and 1810. It clearly presents the French legal system. Belgium’s constitution is influenced by earlier const ...

with the status of a

Non-profit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

. In 2003, RREUSE opened a secretariat for Belgium and international environmental and social NGO's at Mundo-B house, an ecologically renovated office building in the centre of Brussels. RREUSE members are: # AERESS (Spain) # Association Citizens "Hands" (Bosnia & Herzegovina) # Associazione Orius (Italy) # BKN (Netherlands) # Cooperativa Sociale Insieme (Ireland) # CRNI (Ireland) # CRNS (UK) # Dobrote z.b.o (Slovenia) # donateNYC (United States) # Ecological Recycling Society (Greece) # EKON (Poland) # Emmaüs Europe # Emmaüs France (France) # ENVIE (France) # Herwin (Belgium) # Humana Nova (Croatia) # Humusz Szövetség (Hungary) # Kierrätyskeskus Oy (Finland) # Klimax Plus (Greece) # Macken (Sweden) # RECOSI (Ireland) # RehabRecycle (Ireland) # RepaNet (Austria) # RESSOURCES (Belgium) # Reuseful UK (UK) # Tramel Oy (Finland) # Uuskasutuskeskus (Estonia) The network RREUSE has a non-bureaucratic structure. The members meet three times a year working on the different waste streams, such as: * WEEE (

Waste electrical and electronic equipment Electronic waste or e-waste describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. Used electronics which are destined for refurbishment, reuse, resale, salvage recycling through material recovery, or disposal are also considered e-waste. Informa ...

), * Textiles, * Bulky waste, * Bio-waste, * Resource consumption and product policies etc. Most of the work is done by volunteer members between the meetings.

Funding

RREUSE is financed by membership fees. In the first two years, RREUSE received seed funding from the Belgian Government to promote the launch of the organisation. Later, RREUSE received some funding by DG Environment and DG Education. Recently RREUSE has received funding from Fondation de France.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.rreuse.org/t3/, RREUSE official website Recycling organizations International organizations based in Europe

Mission and Activity

Origin

Funding

See also

References

External links