I wrote several years ago about how a handful of local authorities had special areas at their civic amenity tips where dumped items were made available for other residents to check over and buy for a small fee. It didn’t make sense to me that this practice wasn’t more widespread, since as well as making money for the council, it meant that items which were still serviceable found new homes instead of adding to the mountains of waste we produce. OK they may not have simply been added to the landfill load, but someone would have had to process them – break them up to separate metals from wood, foam, reusable materials etc for transportation to wherever the various component parts would finally be reused. Whether these areas remained open following the changes Covid-19 and lockdowns brought to our local tips I don’t know – particularly with the rise of sites such as Freebay and Freecycle, along with the growing practice of leaving unwanted items by your gate with a ‘please take me’ sign on them. A recent report by BBC Cymru Wales reminded me of that old Leader, while alerting me to a similar, but much bigger and better idea, finding success in Eskilstuna, Sweden. 

  

My picture, courtesy of Lina Ostling, shows the inside of the ReTuna Återbruksgalleria – a shopping mall where everything is either second-hand, (and possibly repaired) or upcycled, (made from one or more second hand items) or has been organically or sustainably produced. The mall, which opened in August 2015, is sited next to the recycling centre, where residents are encouraged to drop off reusable toys, furniture, clothes, decorative items, electronic devices and the like. After an initial check over, the centre's staff invite the mall’s shopkeepers to choose what they want to repair, fix up, convert, refine - and ultimately sell. 

  

The scheme's clearly as success, since sales are booming. And as well as creating jobs and supporting small businesses, the centre hosts a design school where students spend a year learning how to upcycle commonly donated products, along with shorter workshops, lectures, theme days, and more - all with a focus on sustainability. This is such a great idea! I really hope that the powers that be in other countries see the benefits this type of scheme brings and that second-hand shopping malls spring up in cities all over the world. Learn more at: https://www.retuna.se/english