RREUSE

RREUSE (Reuse and Recycling European Union Social Enterprises) is an international nonprofit network that links social enterprises active in the environmental field of re-use, 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 based on re-use and repair. It is based in Belgium with 102,000 employees, trainees and volunteers working across more than 29 countries.

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 award for that campaign.

Origin
Interest in social enterprises working together in environmental services increased during 1999-2001. A few events and projects were set up by a few organisations from the social economy sector. Some organisations also started working together on the forthcoming European WEEE Directive (adopted in 2001), to address concerns about the possible impact of the WEEE-Directive on social enterprises working in the recycling and re-use 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 February 26, 2001. Representatives from the European Parliament, the Belgium Ministry for Social Economy, and the Directorate Environment of the European Commission expressed their general support. RREUSE was founded in August 2022 under Belgian law with the status of a non-profit organisation.

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 include:


 * 1) AERESS (Spain)
 * 2) Association Citizens "Hands" (Bosnia & Herzegovina)
 * 3) Associazione Orius (Italy)
 * 4) BKN (Netherlands)
 * 5) Cooperativa Sociale Insieme (Ireland)
 * 6) CRNI (Ireland)
 * 7) CRNS (UK)
 * 8) Dobrote z.b.o (Slovenia)
 * 9) donateNYC (United States)
 * 10) Ecological Recycling Society (Greece)
 * 11) EKON (Poland)
 * 12) Emmaüs Europe
 * 13) Emmaüs France (France)
 * 14) ENVIE (France)
 * 15) Herwin (Belgium)
 * 16) Humana Nova (Croatia)
 * 17) Humusz Szövetség (Hungary)
 * 18) Kierrätyskeskus Oy (Finland)
 * 19) Klimax Plus (Greece)
 * 20) Macken (Sweden)
 * 21) RECOSI (Ireland)
 * 22) RehabRecycle (Ireland)
 * 23) RepaNet (Austria)
 * 24) RESSOURCES (Belgium)
 * 25) Reuseful UK (UK)
 * 26) Tramel Oy (Finland)
 * 27) Uuskasutuskeskus (Estonia)

The network RREUSE has a non-bureaucratic structure.

Members meet three times a year to work on the different waste streams, such as:


 * WEEE (Waste from electrical and electronic equipment)
 * Textiles
 * Bulky waste
 * Bio-waste
 * Resource consumption and product policies etc.

Most of the work is carried out by volunteer members between 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.