Reuse Centre Ltd., Social Enterprise is the first social enterprise in Slovenia, established in 2012, with main aim to solve environmental and social problems. Reuse Centre developed a new model for the implementation of socially responsible entrepreneurship in Slovenia which connects municipalities and public waste management companies, allowing the development of new green jobs and promoting resource savings in practice. Today it has 9 business units across the country.
The main activities of Reuse Centre are:
- training and employing people from vulnerable groups with the purpose of returning them to the labour market and ensuring social safety;
- taking over still useful products (usable waste, which is brought to the Reuse Centre is reviewed, fixed, cleaned and offered for sale at a symbolic price – this includes furniture, sports equipment, textile, household appliances, books and cd-s, computer equipment, toys etc.);
- processing, repairing and innovatively renovating particular types of still useful products; upcycling;
- removal service;
- renovation and repair of equipment by agreement;
- environmental information and consultation with demonstration of practical possibilities for conserving natural resources.
Reuse Centre has an important effect on the general public in raising environmental awareness and spreading the awareness that our planet has limited resources and that we must make the most to conserve, recycle and reuse whenever possible. We also run various practical workshops whose main purpose is to showcase the possible reuse of second-hand equipment and the use of waste materials to make new products.
REASONS FOR REUSE AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Waste is becoming one of the world’s biggest problems. Due to uneconomic waste management, resources are being lost which presents long-term problems due to the lack of economic competitiveness and loss of jobs. Reuse represents a major contribution to achieving the prioritization of waste management and indirectly contributes to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, extends the life of products, reduces the amount of waste disposed to landfills and saves raw materials and natural resources. Reuse is also an important contribution to the realization of social entrepreneurship. It stimulates the production of local jobs in deficit areas, and allows for the promotion of craft professions which, in Slovenia, are almost extinct.
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