Re-Use Deutschland

Quality, safety and service, as well as visual and hygienic aspects, are some of the main features that customers value when buying used goods. A quality umbrella brand for certified second-hand shops can guarantee quality standards and motivate people to look for "Re-Use Deutschland" and buy from certified second-hand shops. This way, products are reused, resources are saved and climate-friendly consumption is made possible.  While quality and cooperation umbrella brands for second-hand shops have already been established in European countries such as Austria, Belgium, England, Scotland and Ireland, there is no umbrella brand in Germany so far.

The association "Wiederverwendung – Interessengemeinschaft der sozialwirtschaftlichen Reparatur- und Recyclingzentren" (Wir e. V.) initiated a process for Germany and, with the support of the Wuppertal Institute, developed a nationwide umbrella brand for reuse: under the title "Re-Use Deutschland" (formerly: WiRD) a quality standard was established to certify second-hand shops that meet high standards in terms of safety, cleanliness, and service.

The Wuppertal Institute supported and coordinated the conceptualisation of the certification with a view to the temporal process sequence, the certification system (content and test steps), and the evaluation criteria. In this context, a descriptive evaluation of previous quality assessments and expert interviews with existing umbrella brand types were conducted. This project includes the following work packages (WP):
●    WP 1: Evaluation of the previous certification results
●    WP 2: Further development of the certification
●    WP 3: Summary