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NochMall Berlin: Where Going Circular Goes Mainstream

12/7/2020

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by Isaac Yuen​, Recycling Council of BC

SRRI is so happy to include this blog post from our colleague Isaac Yuen, who has recently been in Germany and shared his trip to NochMall with us. Isaac works at the Recycling Council of BC (RCBC) and has been a regular contributor and attendee to our Repair Working Group. Isaac always has great ideas about communications and sharing stories, so we are so happy to share this story of his.
Imagine a store where you can spend a day browsing through vintage records, checking out antique furniture, and scoring deals on fine china sets. And when you get tired, relax at the in-store cafe with a book before attending an auction on rare collector items, or dropping by a regularly offered workshop that teaches you everything from how to mend your jeans to how to resolder your favourite gadget.​
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Imagine if your local trendy department floor had a floor dedicated to upcycled clothing and refurbished products, where you can check out which local green startups working with recycled or repurposed materials are being showcased like big designer brands.
Both these concepts are reality in Berlin, Germany. Operated by Berliner Stadtreinigungsbetriebe (BSR), the largest municipal solid waste management company in Germany, NochMall is the first department store for used goods in Berlin, offering a second life to quality furniture, clothing, appliances, housewares, and much more across two distinct store concepts. Driven by its corporate strategy to promote reuse as a keystone element for waste diversion in accordance with the region’s Recycling Management Act, BSR opened NochMall as a non-profit venture in the summer of 2020 with the motto of “alles ausser neu,” which translates to “everything but new.” Their goals are as follows:
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  • Divert up to 17,000 m³ of bulky goods away from disposal annually.
  • Eliminate 4,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually through reuse.
  • Create 20 permanent retail positions at NochMall.
  • Offer a diverse range of quality goods at reasonable prices for people with limited income.
  • Provide a visible platform for local institutions and initiatives focused on reuse, repair, and waste prevention.
  • Serve as a central hub for experiential learning through repair cafes, upcycling workshops, and environmental education events promoting reuse, refurbishment, and repair.
Beyond being a fancy thrift store, NochMall’s dual concept model seeks to normalize core elements key to making the transition to a circular economy possible. If you want a complete shopping experience, head to the large warehouse-sized store at the outskirts of town. There the IKEA-esque interior is thoughtfully laid out, with curated items spaced to avoid the clutter and chaos associated with most thrift stores.
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​​The DIY/plywood aesthetic is clean and functional; signs for each section are cleverly crafted from old materials that add to the ambience. An upstairs café with comfortable seating adds to a relaxed and comfortable shopping experience; there is even a dedicated event space to hold repair cafes, zero waste talks, and used furniture auctions.
"Department store, platform, workshops and events - NochMall is becoming a synonym for re-use and sustainability.” - Frider Söling (Managing Director, NochMall)
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If you are in the heart of the city, the pop-up version of NochMall in the Karstadt department store may be the spot for you. This location on the 3rd floor offers design trendsetters and social enterprises the opportunity to showcase their sustainable products made from upcycled materials—anything from discards and returns to defective products and waste fabric scraps that would otherwise go for disposal. ​
Regular repair cafes and upcycling workshops are also held in this space, reinforcing fun and educational components as part of the regular retail experience. The Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection also has plans to organize zero-waste events one floor above the pop-up location, leveraging existing retail spaces to promote circular economy concepts towards a demographic that goes beyond the environmentally conscious crowd.

​This holiday season, ask yourself: What would it be like to shop with the planet in mind? What if you can come away from a retail experience with nothing but a new set of skills? What if you can find that perfect present that would otherwise have gone to the landfill? NochMall Berlin offers one tantalizing vision of what is possible—it’s now up to us how to adopt and adapt this model for our region as we move towards a circular economy. Tell us in the comments what your vision for a circular hub in BC looks like.
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Isaac Yuen is an Environmental Advisor at the Recycling Council of BC, a non-profit organization that facilitates the exchange of ideas to eliminate waste through the BC Recycling Hotline, the BC Recyclepedia, and the BC Recyclepedia smartphone app.
Information from: www.nochmall.de; images by author.

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Right to Repair

1/2/2020

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The Right to Repair movement is growing around the globe as consumers and businesses seek ways to more easily and affordably repair their items - from household goods and electronics, clothing and computers up to large appliances and farming equipment. 

The Right to Repair movements is focused on passing legislation overcome a host of barriers to repair. Barriers consumers face in repairing their own items includes hard-to-repair design, companies claiming intellectual property over the information and parts necessary for repair, and repair being more affordable than replacement.

While the Right to Repair movement has gained traction globally, it faces powerful opposition, yet continues to be bolstered by online communities and advocacy organizations.

The 2018 International Repair Day pushed for the Right to Repair, focusing on access to information, parts, and equipment needed for repair, as well as making items more durable and repairable. In the European Union, the Parliament approved recommendations to make it easier to repair electronics like laptops and cellphones as well as extend their lifetimes. There are also proposals for items like lighting, televisions, and large appliances. In the US, 20 states have filed legislation for the right to repair electronic products. There is also legislation at both the federal and state level for legislation establishing the right to repair for independent auto repair shops. In Canada, Ontario MPP Michael Coteau introduced a private member’s bill that would amend Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act that would make electronics repair easier for individuals and repair shops. Quebec’s Bill 197 also hopes to outlaw planned obsolescence as well as bolster consumers’ right to repair.

Though advocates continue to push this legislation, they face opposition from powerful corporations. Claims from these companies include consumers attempting repairs to their phones might cause the lithium batteries to catch fire or cut their fingers on broken glass if they try to repair the screen. Apple lobbyist Steve Kester claimed the right to repair could open up opportunities to hackers, which security experts have shot down. These companies have in some cases also filed suits against unauthorized repair shops or individuals teaching how to repair their items over spaces like YouTube. They claim the information and parts needed to repair their items are protected under intellectual property laws.

Despite such opposition, repair knowhow is spreading through online forums and channels, as well as through in-person workshops. Online resources like the Open Repair Data Standard, iFixIt, RepairMonitor, and Fixometer aim to make repair information, such as data and manuals, accessible through open source. Meanwhile, organizations like Repair Café (Netherlands) and Fixit Clinic (US) run repair workshops that enable people to learn how to repair their items.

In Vancouver, groups like Repair Matters, Free Geek, Frameworq Education Society, and MetroVan Repair Cafes run workshops to teach consumers the skills they need to repair their items as well as offer free repair. Items include kids’ toys, clothing, electronics, and more. At the Share Reuse Repair Initiative, we are looking at how consumer demand for repair can be better met through repair workshops and government policy.
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The Share Reuse Repair Initiative is a project on the MakeWay Shared Platform.
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