RREUSE social enterprise members across Europe extend product lifespans, create inclusive local jobs, and generate economic value through circular economy activities. Each year, RREUSE collects data from the network to capture the scale of this work. The member impact infographic compiles these results, highlighting their collective social, environmental, and economic contributions.
RREUSE helped raise the profile of public procurement as a powerful lever for inclusive and sustainable outcomes. Our advocacy contributed to European Commission Vice‑President Stéphane Séjourné issuing a written commitment during his confirmation process to ensuring better rules for social enterprises in the upcoming Public Procurement Directive revision, marking a significant step towards greater social and environmental value in public spending.
Our Member Satisfaction and Consultation Survey confirmed the strong value of RREUSE membership. 94% of respondents agreed that membership has been beneficial to their organisation, and 88% reported that it has strengthened their understanding of relevant EU‑level policies. These results demonstrate RREUSE’s impact in supporting its members and contributing to the growth and development of the wider social and circular sector.
Through sustained advocacy and research, RREUSE contributed to work underpinning the 2021–2026 Social Economy Action Plan and the Council Recommendation on Developing Social Economy Framework Conditions. The adopted Recommendation reflects RREUSE’s positions and calls on Member States to integrate reuse and repair social economy actors into circular economy legislation and improve their access to public procurement, state aid, funding, and supportive taxation, including VAT.
RREUSE actively contributed to the textile-targeted revision of the Waste Framework Directive that formally recognises and supports the role of social economy enterprises in the second-hand textiles sector. This marks a significant shift in EU textile waste policy, demonstrating the impact of our network in shaping this key file. Beyond including more than 30 references to the social economy and social enterprises, the adopted Directive included key provisions to support the sector. Concrete examples include granting social enterprises equal or preferential access to waste streams and ownership of the textiles collected.
RREUSE's publication, Job Creation in the Reuse Sector, has provided widely cited evidence on the employment potential of the reuse sector. The report is referenced in the European Parliament's own-initiative report on job creation and impact investments, in the Greens/EFA 2023 report Green Jobs: Success and Opportunities for Europe, and the European Commission's official webpage on the EU strategy for sustainable and circular textiles.
RREUSE helped shape the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles, both through the Fair and Sustainable Textiles Coalition and as an individual organisation. Our sustained advocacy ensured the strategy explicitly recognises the crucial role of social enterprises in used textiles management and highlights RREUSE’s job creation figures, underscoring the social and environmental value of reuse activities across Europe.
Building on several years of advocacy, RREUSE contribute effectively to the creation of the EU’s nine‑year Social Economy Action Plan. The plan builds a bridge between the EU’s social, environmental and economic agendas and gives strong recognition to social enterprises active in the circular economy. RREUSE’s positions and data are quoted directly in the action plan and its supporting documents, underscoring our network’s influence on EU social economy policy.
The European Commission’s Circular Economy Action Plan recognises the social economy as “a pioneer in job creation linked to the circular economy”, a message echoed by Members of the European Parliament, who called for more support for “community repair initiatives, cooperatives and social enterprises”. Thanks to RREUSE’s persistent advocacy, social enterprises now have official recognition for the key role they play in making the circular economy a reality.
RREUSE helped bring the practical needs of independent repair operators into EU Ecodesign policy. After years of advocacy with partners, a proposal from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre included access to spare parts and repair manuals for independent repair operators for washing machines and dishwashers. By reflecting key points promoted by RREUSE and its members, these proposals helped lay the groundwork for future repair-friendly product requirements in the EU.
RREUSE helped bring social clauses into policy discussions as a practical tool to support social enterprises active in the circular economy. By developing guidance on how social clauses could be applied in practice, RREUSE gave policymakers concrete ways to use public policy to strengthen social economy actors. This approach was reflected in national discussions in Spain, Austria and France during the transposition of EU waste laws, where social clauses were mentioned as a means to support reuse social enterprises.
RREUSE and its members ran the Waste Watchers campaign as part of the European Week of Waste Reduction. Participating second-hand shops weighed the items sold during the campaign. Across Europe, the campaign recorded 630 tonnes of waste avoided, with 187 reuse centres and shops in five countries taking part and 91,600 visitors recorded. The campaign’s success was recognised at the European Week of Waste Reduction Awards, where it received the Jury’s Favourite Award
After years of advocacy, RREUSE helped secure a landmark change in EU waste policy through the revision of the Waste Framework Directive. For the first time, reuse was recognised as a distinct waste management option in European legislation and given a distinct place in the waste hierarchy. The Directive also introduced definitions of reuse and of preparing for reuse, and encouraged Member States to support reuse and repair networks.
