Kringwinkel ViTeS is a social enterprise active largely in the Flemish Brabant that provides people at a distance from the labour market with tailor-made work and training.
With 12 shops the Flemish region, including 2 in Brussels, 4 depots and workplaces with around 800 employees, they focus on the reuse of original and affordable items alongside social employment. They collect reusable goods through various means, including collection services, reuse containers in recycling parks as well as textile containers. As part of their reporting for national Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes, the social enterprise sends a monthly report to municipalities on the amount of waste collected per product streams.
After these items have been collected, they are processed and sorted by the staff at Kringwinkel ViTeS, into reusable items and by article type before they are prepared for reuse, including cleaning, testing and repairing. They are then priced and sold in Kringwinkel ViTeS second-hand shops. The organisation also sorts waste for recycling to minimise the number of items going to waste.
Kringwinkel ViTeS employs a cascade system for their resale model: shops, discount and then kilomet. Items that are not sold after a period of time are discounted and if they remain unsold, they are then transferred to Kilomet Brussels before they are sold by weight at very affordable prices. Additionally, they also work with organisations that donate items to people in need, for example, refugees in Ukraine or to school children who have limited to no access to books, school bags or stationeries. Their community initiatives have led to new partnerships: a book enterprise has once donated 1,000 books to them for distribution to school children.
Their activities generate employment opportunities for people facing barriers in the labour market, and Kringwinkel ViTeS works with employment agency to hire people most suitable for their available roles. They provide coaching on-the-ground, and also provide social guidance and aim to cultivate soft skills. The aim is for them to grow to become a better qualified employee and improve their chances in seeking long-term employment elsewhere.
