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During the European Week for Waste Reduction in November, residents of Tallinn donated nearly 3,000 kilograms of household items for recycling. The collection campaign was organised in cooperation between the Re-Use Centre and the City of Tallinn.

For a week at the end of November, in six districts of Tallinn, residents were able to donate well-kept items they no longer needed for recycling. In five days, the Re-Use Centre’s van collected nearly 3,000 kilograms of items, with the highest donations in Lasnamäe (900 kilograms) and Nõmme (800 kilograms).

“I commend all the city residents who understand that decent things should not be thrown away but deserve to be given a new life. It is evident that if environmentally friendly options are offered conveniently and nearby, people will actively use them,” said Joosep Vimm, Deputy Mayor of Tallinn. “Given the great interest shown by the citizens of Tallinn, the next collection rounds for reusable items will take place in spring, together with the collection rounds for hazardous waste.”

In case someone missed the van or cannot wait until the new collection round, they can donate clean clothes, shoes, toys, dishes, kitchen utensils, sports and hobby equipment, books, knick-knacks, household textiles, furnishings and small household appliances that have become redundant and are in good condition to all the shops of the Re-Use Centre during their opening hours.

There are convenient re-use lockers in Ülemiste, Rocca al Mare and Kristiine shopping centres, and a self-service collection house outside the Baltic Station market, open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can also take your clothes, shoes and toys to the red, green and blue recycling bins located around the city.

For recycling larger items, such as decent furniture or larger household appliances in good condition (for example a fridge or a washing machine), the Re-Use Centre’s van can be summoned free of charge in Tallinn and the surrounding area. To do this, a picture of the item along with one’s contact details should be entered on the Re-Use Centre’s website.

Please do not donate broken, dirty or mouldy items to the re-use collection points. These should be taken to the waste station.

One of the goals of the Tallinn 2035 development strategy is to make Tallinn a city that cares for the environment, lives sustainably and consumes in a circular economy. The circular economy aims to ensure a cleaner, more resource-efficient and more competitive economy. The new circular economy system should involve all stakeholders, improve cooperation between public authorities, businesses and NGOs and complement existing networks.

Although the circular economy is most often associated with waste management, it influences a very large part of people’s daily lives, offering opportunities to avoid waste and emissions and to reduce the use of resources and the wider environmental impact of their activities. This means, among other things, reducing unnecessary consumption, redesigning consumption, refusing products that do not use recycled or recyclable resources, and other behavioural changes.