Blocket has been awarded the Swedish Recycling Industries Inspirational Award honoring its marketplace that stimulates and encourages the reuse of products. When people buy secondhand the production of new objects is avoided and fewer things end up discarded. The Swedish Recycling Industries also highlighted the Climate Report from Blocket, which, in cooperation with the Swedish Environmental Research Institute, estimates the climate benefits of secondhand trade in Sweden. HRH Crown Princess Victoria presented the award during Recycling Day on May 12.
Blocket recently presented its Climate Report showing that the secondhand trade in Sweden leads to 1.6 million tons of avoided greenhouse gas emissions annually. It’s akin to if the road traffic in Stockholm stood still for more than 1.5 years, or to all Swedish roads being deserted for one month.
“Blocket has been the frontrunner in driving reuse by creating a marketplace for individuals and businesses wanting to buy and sell reusable products on a secondhand market,” says Anders Wijkman, president of the Swedish Recycling Industries. “Especially interesting is that Blocket has taken the initiative to calculate the climate impact of reusing commodities.”
Blocket wishes to highlight the Swedish people’s engagement and commitment to reusing things.
“Swedes buy more and more secondhand goods for every year that passes. In addition to the financial benefit of shopping secondhand, increasingly more people understand the environmental aspects. Now we are spurred to further raise awareness of secondhand trade benefits and encourage more people to make better choices. Together we can make a real difference by extending the life cycle of various goods,” says Anna Backe marketing manager and responsible for sustainability at Blocket.
The Swedish Recycling Industry motivation:
“Blocket has contributed to a significantly more efficient use of resources by creating a marketplace for reuse of products that are not discarded but can be used again by a new owner. By stimulating the market to use products over and over again, before they ultimately become waste, the winner has helped to reduce the extraction of virgin raw materials and carbon footprint significantly.
The winner has taken the initiative to calculate the reduced carbon footprint from people using the marketplace. It amounts to more than 1.6 million tons, compared to Sweden’s emissions of greenhouse gases at about 56 million tons. It is the first time the climate benefits of reuse are verified. This is particularly interesting since reuse is one of the most important measures for emission reduction, but not visible in the national statistics.
Through a strong commitment to increase engagement and demonstrate the environmental benefits of reusing, the winner has helped to lay the foundation for a new approach to the market for reusable goods. Studies show that environmental considerations have become an increasingly important driver of those buying and selling in this marketplace.”
Past recipients of the Inspirational Award include IKEA , Patagonia , Electrolux, Coca-Cola and H&M.
For more information please contact:
Annette Karlberg , PR Manager at Blocket, +46 76-130-7300, annette.karlberg@blocket.se