reuse

Reuse centers (also known as a "swap shop" or a "take-it-or-leave-it") facilitate the transaction and redistribution of unwanted, yet perfectly usable, materials and equipment from one entity to another. The entities that benefit from either side of this service (as donors, sellers, recipients, or buyers) can be businesses, nonprofits, schools, community groups, and individuals. Some maintain a physical space (a reuse center), and others act as a matching service (a virtual exchange). Reuse centers generally maintain both warehouses and trucks. They take possession of the donated materials and make them available for redistribution or sale.

Virtual exchanges do not have physical space or trucks, but instead allow users to post listings of materials available and wanted (for free or at low cost) on an online materials exchange website. Staff will help facilitate the exchange of these materials without ever taking possession of the materials.

One way to address this is to increase product longevity; either by extending a product's first life or addressing issues of repair, reuse and recycling.{{Cite journal |last1=Hassini |first1=Marwan |last2=Redondo-Iglesias |first2=Eduardo |last3=Venet |first3=Pascal |date=3 April 2023 |title=Second-Life Batteries Modeling for Performance Tracking in a Mobile Charging Station |journal=World Electric Vehicle Journal |language=en |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=94 |doi=10.3390/wevj14040094 |doi-access=free |issn=2032-6653}} Reusing products, and therefore extending the use of that item beyond the point where it is discarded by its first user is preferable to recycling or disposal,{{Cite web |title=Directive - 2008/98 - EN - Waste framework directive - EUR-Lex |url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2008/98/oj |access-date=2024-01-20 |website=eur-lex.europa.eu |language=en}} as this is the least energy intensive solution, although it is often overlooked.

The EU Circular Economy Package recognises the importance of extending product lifetimes and includes repair and reuse of products in its action plan to ensure products reach their optimum lifespan. If targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions are to be reached, then reuse needs to be included as part of a whole life cycle approach.

A strong second hand market-place exists, with charity shops on most high streets, car boot(trunk) sales and online auction sites maintaining popularity and regular TV shows featuring both buying and selling at auction.

File:Electric wire reel reused in a furniture ecodesign.jpg

This would not necessarily be a poor strategy for businesses, there are business models that provide opportunities to retain ownership of valuable products and components through leasing, servicing, repair and re-sale.

Both in the formal and informal economy there is huge potential for the reuse of goods and materials to deliver social and economic and environmental benefits.{{Cite journal |last1=Van Opstal |first1=Wim |last2=Pals|first2=Emma|last3=Sangers |first3=Dani|date=2025-05-15 |title=Mapping the prevalence and size of the informal circular economy in an industrialised region |journal=Resources, Conservation and Recycling|volume=218|doi=10.1016/j.resconrec.2025.108268|doi-access=free |bibcode=2025RCR...21808268V }} The EU Circular Economy Package, the Scottish Circular Economy Strategy and the national reuse target set by the Spanish Government are examples of governments recognising that second-hand goods should be a good value mainstream option and are working towards making reuse easier for consumers.{{cite journal|last1=Cole |first1=C. |last2=Cooper |first2=T. |last3=Gnanapragasam |first3=A.|title=Extending product lifetimes through WEEE reuse and repair: opportunities and challenges in the UK.|date=2016|issue=Electronics Goes Green 2016+ Conference, Berlin, Germany, 7–9 September 2016}}

In environmental terms, reuse ought to be more common than recycling and energy recovery, with both the financial and environmental costs of simple refurbishment of some products being a fraction of original manufacturing costs. If we are going to be serious about living in a Circular Economy we need to recognise the value of our waste and ensure resources are kept in the economy for longer, slow down the use of valuable raw materials and ensure that products are reused and materials are recycled rather than landfilled.

{{Main|Remanufacturing}}

The most involved reuse organizations are "repair and overhaul" industries which take valuable parts, such as engine blocks, office furniture, toner cartridges, single-use cameras, aircraft hulls, and cathode ray tubes (CRTs) and refurbish them in a factory environment in order to meet the same/similar specifications as new products.

When the item is resold under the same OEM name, it is informally considered a "gray market" item - if it is sold as used, it's legal, if it's represented as an OEM product eligible for rebates and warranties, it is considered "counterfeit" or "black market".{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}} The automobile parts industry in the USA is governed by laws on the disclosure of "used" parts and, in some states, mattresses which have been used are required to be sanitized or destroyed.[http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2002/julqtr/41cfr101-45.309-8.htm Code of Federal Regulations, Title 41, Volume 2] CITE: 41CFR101-45.309-8 Part 101-45--Sale, Abandonment, Or Destruction Of Personal Property

{{main|Reusable packaging}}

File:E8086-Bishkek-glass-bottle-collection-point.jpg. Deposit values (0.5-2 Kyrgyz som) are posted next to the sample bottles on the rack]]

Deposit programs offer customers a financial incentive to return packaging for reuse. Although no longer common, international experience is showing that they can still be an effective way to encourage packaging reuse.{{Cite journal |last1=Agnusdei |first1=Giulio Paolo |last2=Gnoni |first2=Maria Grazia |last3=Sgarbossa |first3=Fabio |date=2022-12-10 |title=Are deposit-refund systems effective in managing glass packaging? State of the art and future directions in Europe |journal=Science of the Total Environment |volume=851 |issue=Pt 2 |pages=158256 |doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158256 |pmid=36028036 |bibcode=2022ScTEn.851o8256A |issn=0048-9697|doi-access=free }} However, financial incentive, unless great, may be less of an incentive than convenience: statistics show that, on average, a milk bottle is returned 12 times, whereas a lemonade bottle with a 15p deposit is returned, on average, only 3 times.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}

Refillable bottles are used extensively in many European countries; for example in Denmark, 98% of bottles are refillable, and 98% of those are returned by consumers.[http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/21651/ Litterbug World], Ariane Conrad Hyde, LiP Magazine. April 1, 2005 These systems are typically supported by deposit laws and other regulations.

Sainsbury Ltd have operated a plastic carrier bag cash refund scheme in 1991 - “the penny back scheme”.{{cite news|newspaper=The Times|date=1991-05-16|title=Recession fails to subdue Sainsbury|author=Graham Searjeant}} The scheme is reported to save 970 tonnes of plastic per annum. The scheme has now been extended to a penny back on a voucher which can be contributed to schools registered on the scheme; it estimates this will raise the savings in plastic to 2500 tonnes per annum.

In some developing nations like India and Pakistan, the cost of new bottles often forces manufacturers to collect and refill old glass bottles for selling cola and other drinks. India and Pakistan also have a way of reusing old newspapers: "Kabadiwalas" buy these from the readers for scrap value and reuse them as packaging or recycle them. Scrap intermediaries help consumer dispose of other materials including metals and plastics.{{Cite journal |last1=Ogwueleka |first1=Toochukwu Chibueze |last2=B p |first2=Naveen |date=2021-11-01 |title=Activities of informal recycling sector in North-Central, Nigeria |journal=Energy Nexus |volume=1 |pages=100003 |doi=10.1016/j.nexus.2021.100003 |issn=2772-4271|doi-access=free |bibcode=2021EnNex...1j0003O }}

File:A boy with GUTA.jpg

These apply primarily to items of packaging, for example, where a company is involved in the regular transportation of goods from a central manufacturing facility to warehouses or warehouses to retail outlets. In these cases there is considerable benefit to using reusable “transport packaging” such as plastic crates or pallets.

The benefits of closed-loop reuse are primarily due to low additional transport costs being involved, the empty lorry returning with the empty crates. There have been some recent attempts to get the public to join in on closed loop reuse schemes where shoppers use reusable plastic baskets in place of carrier bags for transporting their goods home from the supermarket; these baskets fit on specially designed trolleys making shopping supposedly easier.

There have been some market-led initiatives to encourage packaging reuse by companies introducing refill packs of certain commodities (mainly soap powders and cleaning fluids), the contents being transferred before use into a reusable package kept by the customer, with the savings in packaging being passed onto the customer by lower shelf prices. The refill pack itself is not reused, but being a minimal package for carrying the product home, it requires less material than one with the durability and features (reclosable top, convenient shape, etc.) required for easy use of the product, while avoiding the transport cost and emissions of returning the reusable package to the factory.

{{Main|Regift}}

The average American, for example, throws away 67.9 pounds{{cite web|url=http://www.textilerecycle.org |title=Council for Textile Recycling (CTR) |publisher=Textilerecycle.org |access-date=2014-06-08}} of used clothing and rags.

{{Main|Repurposing}}

File:Reuses of old pens.jpg

Repurposing is to use a tool for use as another tool, usually for a purpose unintended by the original tool-maker. Typically, repurposing is done using items usually considered to be junk or garbage. A good example of this would be the Earthship style of house, that uses tires as insulating walls and bottles as glass walls. Reuse is not limited to repeated uses for the same purpose. Examples of repurposing include using tires as boat fenders and steel drums or plastic drums as feeding troughs and/or composting bins.{{cite web | url=http://www.diyncrafts.com/6081/repurpose/100-ways-repurpose-reuse-broken-household-items | title=100 Ways to Repurpose and Reuse Broken Household Items | publisher=DIY & Crafts | access-date=June 14, 2014| date=2014-05-03 }}

{{Main|Reuse of excreta}}

The nutrients, i.e. nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and micronutrients, and organic matter contained in wastewater, excreta (urine and feces) and greywater have traditionally been reused in agriculture in many countries and are still being reused in agriculture to this day - unfortunately often in an unregulated and unsafe manner. This is particularly a problem in many developing countries (e.g. Mexico, India, Bangladesh, Ghana) where untreated or poorly treated wastewater is used directly in agriculture. The WHO Guidelines from 2006 have set up a framework how this reuse can be done safely by following a multiple barrier approach.WHO (2006). [http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/1004 WHO Guidelines for the Safe Use of Wastewater, Excreta and Greywater - Volume IV: Excreta and greywater use in agriculture]. World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, Switzerland

{{Excerpt|waste valorization}}

Determining the balance of how the several effects of reuse interact is often best accomplished by a formal life cycle assessment. For example, research has shown that reusing a product can reduce {{CO2}} emissions and carbon footprint by more than 50% relative to the complete product life cycle.{{cite web |url=http://www.citeulike.org/article/9832067 |title=Impact of closed-loop network configurations on carbon footprints: A case study in copiers |publisher=Citeulike.org |access-date=2014-06-08 |archive-date=2019-03-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190308081713/http://www.citeulike.org/article/9832067 |url-status=dead }} A relatively unknown effective way to reduce {{CO2}} emissions and carbon footprint is reusing products. Often the relative carbon footprint of manufacturing and the supply chain is unknown.{{cite web | url=http://www.durabilit.eu/Plone/news/how-to-reduce-your-company2019s-carbon-footprint-2013-by-reuse | title=How to reduce your carbon footprint - by reuse! | publisher=Durabilt, Q1 2011 | access-date=June 14, 2014 | author=Krikke, H.R. | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819083915/http://www.durabilit.eu/Plone/news/how-to-reduce-your-company2019s-carbon-footprint-2013-by-reuse | archive-date=August 19, 2014 }}

{{Main|Pigovian tax}}

A Pigovian tax is an environmental tax: a charge on items that reflects the environmental costs of their manufacture and disposal. This makes the environmental benefit of using one reusable item instead of many disposable ones into a financial incentive. Such charges have been introduced in some countries.{{specify|date=June 2014}}{{citation needed|date=June 2014}}

Interior Jacobsen House Bathroom Earthship 2009.JPG|An interior bathroom wall that incorporates repurposed clear glass bottles into a bottle wall

Craft stuff mt angel restore 22798459.jpg|A salvaged window from the deconstruction of an old house turned home decor with paint and stencils

Plastic Bottles and LED Lights repurposed as a chandelier during Ramadan in Muslim Quarter, Jerusalem 2011.jpg|Plastic bottles (with LED lights) repurposed as a chandelier during Ramadan in the Muslim Quarter, Jerusalem

PS 109 rehab 215 E. 99th St jeh.jpg|A school being prepared for reuse as housing

Europaletten-Sitzbank in Raabs ad Thaya.jpg|Wooden pallets reused to make a bench

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• Code reuse
• Computer recycling
• Heat recovery ventilation
• Micro-sustainability
• Pallet crafts
• Rainwater harvesting
• Rechargeable battery
• Remanufacturing
• Resealable packaging
• Resource recovery
• Reusable launch vehicle
• Reusable shopping bag
• Reusable spacecraft
• Reuse of bottles
• Reuse of human excreta
• Scrap
• Stormwater harvesting
• Used good
• Waste minimization
• Upcycling

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{{Recycling}}

{{Waste}}

{{Sharing economy}}

Category:Waste management concepts