Czech Second-Hand Shops and Reuse Centers Save 1.2 Million Items from the Landfill

Between 2022 and 2025, Czech reuse centers and charity shops saved more than 2.5 million kilograms of various items and materials from ending up as waste. This is according to the Reuse Federation, an umbrella organization uniting groups working to prevent waste generation in Czechia.

According to the federation, a total of 1,283,138 items — ranging from furniture to household appliances and clothing — were given a second life. Furniture and household goods alone account for more than half of the total weight of items saved from disposal. Furniture banks not only help prevent waste but also provide material support to people facing housing hardship, families recovering from crisis situations, refugees, and people leaving social care institutions.

Thanks solely to items diverted from ordinary waste streams, municipalities saved more than 10.8 million crowns in disposal costs. According to Veronika Helena Tovarková, director of the foundation, more than 36,000 items found new homes through charity shops last year, with part of the proceeds from their sale going toward environmental projects across Moravia — in 2025 alone, 410,000 crowns were raised for nature conservation. These funds went toward the care of tree plantings in Hrušky and Mikulčice, the creation of a biocorridor in the fields near Bzenec, and support for community gardens in Brno, Pozořice, Moravský Krumlov, and near Vyškov.

Jobs and Volunteer Work

The reuse sector also contributes to the labor market, creating jobs for people with health limitations or social disadvantages, with a significant share of the work carried out by volunteers. During the reporting period, volunteers contributed nearly 48,300 hours of work, valued at almost 12 million crowns. Over that time, 16,333 people received assistance through furniture banks.

A Growing Sector Without Systemic State Support

Although reuse ranks above recycling in the waste management hierarchy, the sector in Czechia still operates without stable funding, clear legislative regulation, or national targets. According to the Reuse Federation, the main obstacles remain a lack of financing, fragmented data collection, insufficient municipal engagement, and the absence of systematic support from the state.

"The data shows that reuse is not a marginal activity but a full-fledged part of the modern economy. If we truly want to prevent waste, we need to systematically support reuse alongside recycling," says Dana Kalistová, chair of the Reuse Federation.

The newly presented report, "Five Years in Circulation," is the first to systematically analyze the environmental, social, and economic impact of the reuse sector in Czechia. The data is based on voluntary reporting by the federation's member organizations and on findings from research projects carried out jointly with the Ministry of the Environment between 2022 and 2025.

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Source: ekolist.cz