Good practice:

La Fundació Amiga. Work and Training recovering and reusing bulky items & textile

The practice is based on a double impact model: work and training as key tools for the true transformation of people and of society in general, allowing 1) the creation and consolidation of jobs for people at risk of social exclusion, and 2) solving a social and / or environmental need not covered or insufficiently covered: The R and PfR of bulky items and clothes. The practice takes its form in three lines of action:
1) Collection, PfR and reuse of furniture: sold to individuals at Botiga Amiga (store) or delivered to people in risk of social exclusion. Donations come from public administration, private companies, social entities and individuals.
2) Donation Room, a special line of activity in the management of bulky items for events with social and circular awareness. In addition to reducing waste, the action has a positive impact on the social network through the donation of equipment and materials to third sector entities and socio-cultural initiatives. Systematizing this distribution is possible thanks to previous work done: needs analysis and registration of requests from different entities.
3) Collection, PfR and R of clothes in a sorting plant of 6000 m2 by a team of about 100 people. The best clothes are chosen for sale (63% PfR), the 30% are recycling for spinning fibers of new textile products, and the 7% is residual waste. The reuse is realized through the sale in the network of own stores or social delivery.

Bulky collection and reuse: 1 workroom to repair furniture, 1 store.
Donation room: 16 people at risk of social exclusion, GSMA allocates 30 people, 6 vehicles and several warehouses.
Textile collection and reuse: about 100 people; full equipped 6.000 m2 sorting plant and a network of own stores

Bulky collection (2018): 8.488u of furniture handled, saving 265t of CO2. In relation to corporate donations, the main donor was IKEA (68.098 Kg, 2018).
Donation room: 26,7t collected and more than 20 social and cultural entities benefited (2019).
Textiles (2018): > 920 containers placed; 11.000 t collected and treated; 130 vulnerable persons employed; 250Mt of CO2 emissions avoided; 20 M m3 of water saved; 129.958u of cloth delivered to 7.124 families at risk of poverty and social exclusion.

Qualitative and quantitate decrease of the furniture donated and the coexistence of other marketplace platforms; Management of the exponential increase of clothes collected; Environmental and social awareness of trade fairs with worldwide projection and great economic impact.

FiT focuses its business strategy on the diversification and innovation of waste management, with the main objective of creating jobs for people at risk of social exclusion while having a + environmental impact.
Bulk collection is a challenge, and along with the cultural change of consumers it is an opportunity to reduce emissions and create jobs.
Donation room is transferable to any event. FiT is expanding its model to reach other events at Fira de Barcelona such as Construmat, Gastrofira, IOT solutions, Smart City, BCN, Retail & Brand Experience World Congress.
Regarding textiles, the branded in-store business model makes it economically replicable, sustainable and attractive. All staff involved in all value chain are people employed under a labour inclusion contract. The clothes in good condition are sold at Botiga Amiga stores and profits are reinvested in projects to fight against social exclusion.