GREEN ramps up circular retail

06/01/2024

by Sofie Forfang

3 minutes

A smiling shop owner in the doorway of her shop.

In the past 18 months, the small-scale project GREEN has promoted circular retail in three cities across the North Sea Region. Punching far above its weight, GREEN launched initiatives that are now being carried forward.

We asked Tine Corfitz Jørgensen from the lead partner organisation, Vejle Municipality, what lies behind the project's success.

Tailored support for retailers

What were your main activities in GREEN?

"We engaged with 36 retailers - 12 in Brügge, 12 in Gothenburg and 12 in Vejle, supporting them to go circular. We organised sustainable business development workshops, conducted one-on-one consultations, and set up networking activities. We also set up 39 green events in the three cities, where we engaged11,000 citizens in talks about sustainable consumption."

"We compiled all our insights in two guides - the Green Retail Handbook and Toolkit for retailers and business developers." The project also came up with the AI assistant Olivia who answers how-to questions about circular retail in a whiff.

Did you know...?

Retailers serve 450 million EU consumers daily. Providing 30 million jobs, retail is Europe's largest private employer.

However, retail takes a heavy toll on the environment, often for no good reason. For example, 4-9% of all textile products (264,000 - 594,000 tonnes) put on the European market is destroyed before its first use.

Discovering the sweet spots

What are the barriers to setting up circular retail?

According to Tine, many retailers fear that going circular will reduce their turnover. "Retailers need to realise that there are sweet spots. You can go circular and still do good business," she says.

An example is the Kvickly retail store in Vejle City. "Kvickly buys goods close to the expiry date and sells them at a low price," explains Tine. This is a win-win-win situation: "The suppliers get to sell their products, Kvickly gets extra turnover, and the customers get cheaper products."

A smiling man in a supermarket next to his quote: "The green transformation improves the bottom line - and creates a good gut feeling!

Retail: A gateway to citizens

Reaching citizens was a priority in GREEN. "Retail is the perfect gateway to raising public awareness about circularity," says Tine.

Sometimes, consumers can even act as suppliers. “In Vejle City a bridal shop, Panayotis, realised that lots of bridal dresses are hidden away in private wardrobes. So, they introduced a ‘forever’ concept for pre-loved bridal wear, offering the full service where brides can try the dress on and have it tailored to suit them perfectly.”

“The sweet spot for Panayotis lies in the fact that they have reduced their stock by 25% - because one-fourth of their sales now consists in dresses stored in private homes.”

Through GREEN, we have cut two thirds of our residual waste. We have also brought down our CO₂ emissions through resale and we are replacing our energy sources.
Michael Panayotis, owner of Panayotis bridal dress shop, Vejle City

GREEN's work is set to continue

How has GREEN made a difference?

"We have first and foremost sought to leave a legacy through the tools we developed, the Green Retail Handbook and Toolkit," explains Tine.

Also, the GREEN partners actively sought to anchor their work through collaboration with local actors. That is why the project's tools and insights are set to live a long life:

The Interreg added value

According to Tine, Vejle Municipality gained useful experience as lead partner of GREEN. Below, she explains what the Interreg cooperation has meant for Vejle:

Small but mighty

In just 18 months, GREEN has sparked increased interest in circular retail, influenced the education of retailers, and produced tools that have been taken up.

The secretariat commends the GREEN partnership for making such big waves within a short time and limited budget!