Good practice:

Computer-based management of Reuse Centres

Reuse Centres are local reference points for the dissemination of culture of reuse and in environmental protection. However, in addition to providing cost centres for services to citizens, re-use centres can also generate economic wealth in terms of savings:
• in disposal costs of goods, that would otherwise have ended up in landfills
• in health’s costs related to CO2 emissions from the avoided disposal
• in environmental remediation’s costs for the illegal disposal avoided
In order to solve all problems encountered in the management of the reuse center with a simple spreadsheet, Risorse Cooperativa with Sistema 3 (a local software house) developed a new management tool: CDRi Manager. It is the first software with cloud technology specifically created for the complete and optimized management of the Reuse Centres.
Main features of the software:
• Real-time and Cloud management supervision
• Reduction of data entry and checking times
• Dematerialization of conferment and withdrawal forms
• Flexibility for all the management needs.
The adoption of shared software could reach the objective of establishing a network of Reuse Centres at the regional level that would involve also small municipalities. It would facilitate the standardisation of the services that are offered and would make it possible to account for the quantity and type of goods that are being recovered. Consequently, it will bring economic, environmental and social benefits to the entire region.

The implementation of the specific software and database required 3 employees for 3 working months (the cloud platform was already struttured), the personnel cost alone can be estimated in about € 15.000. Other costs to are the hardware and the software used by the software house not quantifiable.

Environmental, social and economic goals
- savings in the disposal costs of goods that would otherwise have ended up in landfills
- savings in health’s costs related to CO2 emissions from the avoided disposal
- savings in environmental remediation’s costs for illegal disposal avoided
- recovered goods’ value restitution to the community
- revenues derived from taxing withdrawal of goods for citizens who can pay
- establishing a network of Reuse Centres
- standardisation of the service

The project is easily replicable. Flexibility for all the management needs - Possibility of management customization for all operating needs (scores withdrawal, paid withdrawal, benefits based on income, intercommunal centres, types of users, goods classifications, reports, etc.). The transition to an integrated computerised management system would facilitate the standardisation of the services that are offered by the centres and the achievement of high management standards, and would make it possible to account accurately and immediately for the quantity and type of goods that are being recovered.