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Travel to RETUNA

A visit to Retuna has been in my mind since I first saw it in social media; a recycling market opened in Sweden in August 2015.

During the time (1991-1994) when I worked in Tetra-Pak, I had the chance to see Sweden’s life style in various fields; their approach to human rights, respect for the environment, their understanding in creating value in business life etc. After that period of time I changed some of my habits in my private life as well as my principles and roadmap in my business life and start to learn and work more about sustainability.

Sustainable Living Approach 
Sine 2008 I am working on the implementation of sustainability approach in companies strategies. Lately I am thinking about the necessity of individuals to be conscious about sustainability and their demand from companies to be more responsible about sustainability in every field. Whenever we’ll begin to make efforts to sustain our own lives, companies will feel obligated to produce products and services with the same responsible approach. Sustainable living means to use our resources in a way which will enable us to keep up them to future generations, to use renewable energy resources in a responsible manner without harming the environment and the living creatures, to show our respect to every human being and to endure our business and individual life by adhering to ethical values. My efforts in this way led me to learn Swedish while I was trying to follow the projects shared only in Swedish :)) and also to Eskilstuna to visit Retuna.

On the way to Retuna 
Retuna is in Eskilstuna where you can travel from Stockholm by train in 1.5 hours. From the train station you can reach the market in 10 minutes by bus or by a taxi. There is not much residential area in the immediate vicinity, but the most important feature is that the market is positioned right next to a large recycling centre. People living nearby are bringing here all kinds of materials and goods which they are not using anymore. I followed the uninterrupted car entry-exit for 15 minutes while I was waiting in front of Retuna. This is a habit that is settled in their life patterns. They are also very careful not only in waste but also in energy use. If they do not have an important need in the city, they use bicycles and public transport instead of cars. The ones, who have a home outside of Stockholm, leave their cars at the point where they arrive by train or bus and use bicycles or public transport in the city.

Institutional structure and functioning 
Retuna in Eskilstuna was built around the municipality and was established near the largest recycling center in this region. The goods transported here are first separated by a team of the municipality. Those that can be repaired are repaired and distributed to relevant stores within the market according to their usage areas. You can find children’s furniture and goods, antiques, glassware, clothing, individual shops selling electronic equipment, a book hall with books to affordable prices, a section where construction materials are found, sports equipment and a shop with heavy bicycles etc. There is also a very nice cafe where visitors can rest, a large conference room on the top floor is for awareness-raising conferences on sustainable life and another training section where frequent trainings organized in various art branches.

There is also a Financial Success
They define the purpose of the organization as raising awareness about recycling, resource use, responsible and sustainable life. However, the success of Retuna has reached a commercial level higher than expected and in 2016 they reached a sales volume of 8.1 million Swedish kroner.

Starting to pay attention to waste we produce leads us to a more conscious consumption and a more careful purchasing approach.

Serpil Büyükaltınçizme 
[email protected]
May 14, 2018