3rd PLATE Conference
September 18 – 20, 2019
Berlin, Germany
Nils F. Nissen
Melanie Jaeger-Erben (eds.)
Universitätsverlag der TU Berlin
Ordóñez, Isabel; Mählitz, Paul; Rexfelt, Oskar; Decker, Beatrice; Rotter,
Susanne; Padalkina, Dina; Hagy, Shea: Centers for urban re-manufac-
ture: lessons from the CURE pathfi nder project . In: Nissen, Nils F.;
Jaeger-Erben, Melanie (Eds.): PLATE – Product Lifetimes And The Envi-
ronment : Proceedings, 3rd PLATE CONFERENCE, BERLIN, GERMANY,
18 – 20 September 2019. Berlin: Universitätsverlag der TU Berlin, 2021.
pp. 577 – 581. ISBN 978-3-7983-3125-9 (online). https://doi.org/10.14279/
depositonce-9253.
This article – except for quotes, fi gures and where otherwise noted – is
licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0).
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
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3rd PLATE 2019 Conference
Berlin, Germany, 18-20 September 2019
Centers for Urban Re-manufacture: Lessons from the CURE
Pathfinder Project
Ordóñez, Isabel(a); Rexfelt, Oskar(b); Mählitz, Paul Martin(a); Hagy, Shea(c); Decker, Beatrice(a);
Padalkina, Dina(d); Rotter, Susanne(a)
a) Department of Environmental Technology, Chair of Circular Economy and Recycling Technology, Technische
Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
b) Department of Industrial and Materials Science, Division Design & Human Factors, Chalmers University of
Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
c) Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Division of Building Technology, Chalmers University of
Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
d) Circular Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Keywords: Reuse; Remanufacturing; Secondary Material; Circular Economy; Urban Resources.
Abstract: The reuse and remanufacturing of materials in urban areas is an important step towards
closing local material cycles. Despite high potential, the use of these materials is currently hampered
by various reasons, such as lack of coordination or insufficient exchange between the actors. There is
no central point of contact at city level for bundling competencies in this field. The importance and
possibility of establishing a central Center for Urban Re-manufacture (CURE) for sorting, storing and
preparing for reuse and re-manufacturing of these materials was investigated in Gothenburg and
Berlin, in a EIT Climate-KIC Pathfinder project. This article summarizes the findings and lessons of
that project, which include an initiative review, market analyses, and participative workshops in both
cities. The studies show that Gothenburg had a strong local authority engagement in the topic, while
Berlin counted with several independent organizations already providing reuse services. The project
managed to generate interest in this topic among local actors in both cities, which will hopefully result
in the future establishment of some type of CURE in these locations. The article concludes that a
combination of bottom-up and top-down engagement is needed to provide material recovery services
at a city scale, involving stakeholders from across the existing material value chains.
Introduction
A Center for Urban Re-manufacture (CURE) is
a place for experimentation, where locally
available secondary materials are sorted,
stored, and prepared to be reused and/or re-
manufactured. These centers intend to
increase the amount of secondary material
used, helping redirect waste volumes into
value creation activities. CUREs do not yet
exist as such; they are merely a recurrent idea
among actors engaged in reuse and re-
manufacturing practices. Being a common
idea, it has been named and described in
many ways: Zero-Waste centers (ZWIA,
2013), urban resource centers (Partnership on
Circular Economy, 2019), maker spaces, and
repair cafés being a few examples.
Some of these places have a particular focus
on making or tinkering, while others focus
more on recovering materials locally through
reuse practices. Activities such as repair cafes
and maker spaces directly address product life
extension at the hands of the user. The maker
movement has in some ways lifted the
discussion around the right to repair products,
which has seen increased attention regarding
mainly electronic products (Wiens, 2015).
The locations that focus on material recovery
are more akin to warehouses than workshops.
Second hand shops of all kinds help products
and materials find a second lifetime, extending
their use phase by relocating items to new
users. Even though second hand has a long
history and continue to grow, they seem not to
affect the production of new items significantly.
Rather, they represent a “positive” way for
users to get rid of their unnecessary items, not
hindering or providing a reflection about over-
consumption (Bekin, Carrigan, & Szmigin,
2007).
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3rd PLATE Conference Berlin, Germany, 18-20 September 2019
Ordóñez I., Rexfelt O., Mählitz P., Hagy S., Decker B., Paladinka D.,
Rotter S.
Centers for urban re-manufacture: Lessons from the CURE Pathfinder
project
Few places exist, where the focus of
recovering material is directly associated to
making and new production. Examples of
companies that engage in upcycling are
abundant (DeMano, n.d.; Etsy, n.d.; Freitag,
n.d.; SchubLaden, n.d.), but not so open
spaces where several actors could engage in
such activities. That is what makes the CURE
idea slightly different. The CURE concept was
further developed during an EIT Climate-KIC
funded Pathfinder project that ran from August
to December 2018. The Pathfinder project
aimed to explore the possibility of establishing
CUREs in different cities, estimate the
potential benefit these centers may generate
and engage local consortia to implement these
centers in targeted locations. Additionally, a
study of initiatives that already use secondary
material and/or have open workshop spaces
was done to provide inspiration and some
understanding of the existing tacit knowledge
in this area. The CURE concept was described
in the project by four main composing aspects,
as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. The four main composing aspects of a
CURE.
The Pathfinder project was done in
collaboration between Technische Universität
Berlin, Chalmers University of Technology, the
Sustainable Waste and Water office of the
Municipality of Gothenburg, and the Berlin-
based business Material Mafia. Therefore, the
targeted locations were Berlin and
Gothenburg.
This article collects the results obtained from
the Pathfinder project, divided into the three
following sections: initiative review, market
analyses, and participative workshops.
Initiative Review
The initiative review compared fifteen existing
initiatives that provide access to secondary
materials and/or open workshop spaces,
resulting in an overview of how these initiatives
are operated, financed, what types of activities
they perform, and what sort of tools and
spaces they use. Data about the initiatives was
collected through their official webpages and
by semi-structured interviews. More
information about the review results can be
found in Ordonez et al., 2019.
Thirteen of the fifteen initiatives analyzed
actively engage in facilitating material reuse.
Three ways in which initiatives enable re-
circulation were identified:
• Direct reuse by other actors (e.g.
exchanging items).
• Offering materials for other actors to
re-manufacture (e.g. doors made into
tables by others).
• Use secondary material in their own
product development (e.g. re-
manufactured furniture).
The initiatives that use secondary material to
do their own product development typically
work more like design firms or manufacturing
spaces, than material marketplaces. The
materials that the initiatives focus on vary and
include household items, clothing, and bikes,
among other materials. The control on
circulated materials is however low, as only six
of the initiatives keep an inventory system, and
these systems in some cases have rather
vague categorizations.
Of the fifteen initiatives analyzed, six are not
dependent on external funding to operate. The
main strategies for financial independence
identified were: (1) Selling materials and/or
products, (2) membership fees, and (3)
organizing workshops and courses. Among the
nine initiatives that depend on external
funding, four are run or supported by
municipalities, while the others are dependent
on sponsorship from industry, research
initiatives or non-profit organizations. It is
important to notice that these initiatives vary
greatly with regards to what they need to
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Centers for urban re-manufacture: Lessons from the CURE Pathfinder
project
finance, since there are large variations in rent,
staffing, opening hours, etc.
Overall, the study illustrates how
heterogeneous these initiatives are. While this
is, of course, dependent on how they were
sampled, they still differ greatly, particularly in
how they operate, what services they provide
and how they are financed. What the initiatives
have in common besides recirculating material
is that their drive to do so is mainly
environmental sustainability, and not ‘doing
business’. As described by many of the
reviewed initiatives, there is no lack of public
interest and the enthusiasm and driving spirit
is high among the people who work in these
initiatives. However, how all this is optimally
orchestrated is still relatively unknown, with
most initiatives learning as they go.
Additionally, they do not really learn from each
other. There are no ‘manuals’ or other sorts of
documentation available on how to
successfully run an operation of this kind.
Many of the initiatives often get asked to
answer some questions about their activities,
which results repetitive and time consuming in
the long run.
Market Analysis
Two market analyses were done to estimate
the potential benefit of establishing CUREs in
Berlin and Gothenburg. These analyses
provide a brief overview of: local initiatives that
support material recovery, current material
streams, and local industrial characteristics,
resulting in location-specific recommendations
for potential CUREs establishment. More
information about both market analyses can be
found in the project reports (Decker et al.,
2018; Rexfelt et al., 2018).
Gothenburg Market Analysis
One of the most important aspects in
Gothenburg is that there is a political will to
increase recycling, but also other types of
material reuse. While there are private and
industrial reuse and remanufacture initiatives,
it is clear that municipal initiatives are the
biggest and most significant in this location.
Another aspect of Gothenburg (and Sweden
as a whole) is the public’s general interest in
sustainability and environmental issues.
Looking at the number of sharing initiatives
and second-hand shops in Gothenburg, it is
clear that the public is interested in more
sustainable alternatives to consumption.
However, while a number of designers/firms
working with material reuse were identified,
they are only a small part of the market. Large
companies in the region dominate the design
community, and today have no connection to
the initiatives reviewed. In addition, large
companies employ most designers in this
region, and that may act as a barrier for
designers to make a business out of urban
remanufacturing. This could be tackled in
different ways. First, one could strive towards
engaging large companies in the region in
CURE-related activities, through sponsorships
or other means. Another way could be to make
use of the fact that the city of Gothenburg
hosts a number of renowned Design education
programs. If designing with secondary material
played a larger role in these programs, this
knowledge would then diffuse into the large
companies when the graduates are hired.
Overall, the market in Gothenburg is suitable
for a CURE, with existing municipal support, a
plethora of initiatives already in place, and
public interest.
Berlin Market Analysis
The economic activity review of Berlin shows
that there are many material-intensive
businesses in the city. Such companies use
material inputs and most likely incur in
generating secondary materials. These
companies are mostly in trade fair and creative
industries, higher education institutions, as
well as the craft trade and construction
sectors. Statistics show that Berlin hosts over
180 fairs and congresses a year, and is home
to over 100 universities and research
institutes. More than 6,000 member
companies of the Berlin Chamber of Crafts
correspond to material consuming and
processing crafts, with about 10,000
companies from the creative sector considered
material-intensive. It is expected that at least a
fraction of these companies could use
secondary raw materials instead of virgin
ones. The number of companies that carry out
material-intensive activities is assumed to be
higher than what is accounted for in official
reports, since these only include companies
with annual sales over 17,500€, leaving many
small and micro enterprises unaccounted for.
The review of the official Berlin waste statistics
lead to the following conclusions: 1)
preparation for reuse and recycling needs to
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Ordóñez I., Rexfelt O., Mählitz P., Hagy S., Decker B., Paladinka D.,
Rotter S.
Centers for urban re-manufacture: Lessons from the CURE Pathfinder
project
be strengthened and 2) high-quality materials
from trade and industry (that are currently not
obliged to be handed over to public waste
management authorities) must be captured by
an additional data collection tool. Currently
recovered secondary materials are not
accounted for anywhere in official statistics,
making them to some extent invisible. If reuse
and remanufacturing increases, the recovered
streams should be covered by some official
statistics to transparently evaluate these
measures.
Participative Workshops
Two participative workshops were done in the
targeted cities, as a first step to facilitate the
creation of CUREs in these cities. The
workshops had three main goals: to gather
actors interested and/or already engaged in
reuse and remanufacture, get feedback from
these local actors about the CURE idea, and
help define how the participants would want to
engage in a local CURE. The input generated
during the workshops was summarized and
shared with the participants and is presented
in this section.
Gothenburg Workshop
The event took place in the cafe associated to
Gothenburg’s recycling center Alelyckan. Over
a four-hour period 27 participants from local
NGOs, initiatives involved in reuse or
remanufacture, academia, small design and
architecture firms, and representatives from
the public sector engaged in ideas to
understand and promote the CURE concept.
To inspire engagement, participants were
presented with the background to the CURE
idea and preliminary results from the initiative
review and the Gothenburg market analysis.
Participants were asked to engage in a brain-
writing session where they could write any
comment about the CURE idea, and it’s
composing aspects. Next, the participants
were asked to describe themselves or their
organizations using the four CURE aspects, to
later define the challenges they face and finally
suggest potential solutions.
The meeting promoted the idea of CURE to a
relevant audience in Gothenburg. Participants
generated large amounts of input to what they
would like to see in a local CURE and
suggested how they would like to get involved.
This material will be the base of future co-
creation meetings, where project partners,
together with engaged participants, will
continue and hopefully implement a CURE
center.
Given that Gothenburg City has plans of
building a new recycling center; it intends to
include there the ideas suggested by the
CURE Pathfinder project. However,
implementation times for the commune to build
this center might take up to 10 years before it
is actually available. This seemed to
participants like an unnecessarily long time,
that suggested it was possible to, in some
way, take more immediate action. “We should
start doing something like this tomorrow!”,
commented a participant. After the event
conversations with representatives from
Gothenburg City and the research team
suggested that quick action to continue with
the CURE momentum, would be to build a
workshop space at the recycling center
Alelyckan, next to their secondary material
warehouse Återbruket.
Berlin Workshop
The Berlin CURE workshop was organized
with Circular Berlin, Material Mafia, and OMA
e.V. During the preparation phase, project
relevant stakeholder groups were identified
and reached, such as local NGOs, initiatives
involved in reuse or remanufacture, open
workshop spaces, academia, design and
housing companies, funding institutions, and
Berlin municipalities. As a result, more than 70
people participated in the workshop.
The event was structured into three main
parts. The first one covered the findings of the
Berlin market analysis. The second part
targeted the potential objectives of a Berlin
CURE. Participants were divided into 4 groups
around CUREs composing aspects. Group
work was organized around what type of
materials are mostly possible to locally reuse,
how to engage the local community, what are
the existing skills and potentials and what is
necessary to develop to professionalize work
in waste prevention. In the third part of the
workshop, participants were asked how they
would like to contribute to a local CURE.
The workshop demonstrated a high interest in
contributing to establish a Berlin CURE. Some
highlights were the interest to focus on
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Ordóñez I., Rexfelt O., Mählitz P., Hagy S., Decker B., Paladinka D.,
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Centers for urban re-manufacture: Lessons from the CURE Pathfinder
project
recovering wood, textile, and fair discards. The
centers should be open and generate
knowledge for the community about materials,
but also serve as a multiplier for a circular
economy in the city. The creation of a physical
warehouse with a pick-up area for companies
was considered a key aspect. The physical
warehouse would serve for connecting
initiatives, material sorting, and inventory
keeping. Quality assurance of used materials
was also considered a key issue. Testing and
evaluating materials for safety and harmless
use was considered necessary. The workshop
results were shared with the participants and
have served as a base for following co-
creation meetings.
Conclusions
The CURE Pathfinder project detailed the
CURE concept further based on the studies
here presented, but most importantly, it
generated interest in the topic among local
actors. This interest has resulted in concrete
continuation steps taken by stakeholders in
Berlin and Gothenburg. Hopefully, presenting
this experience will inspire other actors to also
engage with the CURE idea, beyond the initial
reach of the Pathfinder project.
Reflecting on the results, it seems relevant that
CUREs are established as open centers
recognized, supported or regulated by local
authorities. This official status would facilitate
that CURE activities get institutionalized,
establishing these services at the city level.
Gothenburg waste authorities were already
involved in the Pathfinder project, providing
official support. However the number of
organizations in the reuse sector was not high.
In contrast, Berlin has several organizations in
the sector, but no clear engagement from local
authorities. Official institutions tend to act
slower, but have the potential to stay longer
than independent organizations. Non-
governmental organizations rarely scale up to
address re-circulation at an urban scale, but
provide a rich variety of recovery options.
Therefore a combination of top-down and
bottom-up engagement is needed to
implement re-circulation in cities.
Ideally, recovery services would be
economically sustainable to ensure their
permanence over time. Acceptance of reuse
and re-manufacturing by all actors in the
material value chain is indispensable to
implement economically independent CUREs.
So, the value generated by recovery activities
should engage and complement existing
material value chains, rather than compete
with them, to foster a wide spread acceptance
of these practices.
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