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Kierrätys­keskus in brief

Pääkaupunkiseudun Kierrätyskeskus is a not-for-profit company established in 1990 with the aim of

reducing the consumption of natural resources,
raising environmental awareness,
increasing opportunities for participation and employment.

Maapallo ja retro lankapuhelin harmaalla taustalla.
Maapallo ja retro lankapuhelin harmaalla taustalla.

Kierrätyskeskus has 13 secondhand shops in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area and a nationwide online store. We provide a wide range of environmental education and environmental consultancy services to residents and professional educators, businesses and communities in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.

What we do?

Kierrätyskeskus is involved in social activities with the aim of enabling a sustainable lifestyle and saving natural resources. We strive to bring practical, everyday solutions into the discussion and policies, so that decisions and policies become a genuine part of people’s lives. Read more about our environmental responsibility.

  • We accept donations of goods in good condition from individuals and companies. This is at the heart of what we do – we always look for the best possible further path for the goods in terms of the environment.
  • Our shops sell and distribute all kinds of household goods, clothes and furniture free of charge. We also offer Plan B upcycled products and Näprä handicraft materials from our own workshops, electrical and electronic devices under warranty from our electrical workshop and bicycles repaired by our bike workshop.
  • We lend and rent trailers.
  • We share information on environmental issues and tips for a sustainable lifestyle. Kierrätyskeskus’s Environmental School Polku provides environmental education for children and educational professionals, as well as for businesses and communities.
  • We also provide a wide range of services to business clients.
  • We offer unemployed jobseekers temporary jobs and support in finding further employment. Kierrätyskeskus is a unique workplace in its diversity.
  • We offer meaningful volunteering opportunities.

Your choices matter

Kierrätyskeskus is here to remind you that you are more. You are more than a consumer. You are part of a whole and every choice you make has a meaning and a consequence. You are a possibility, a solution and, above all, a doer. That’s why our slogan is “You are more”.

Where do our profits go?

All proceeds from Kierrätyskeskus will be used to promote the company’s activities and objectives, i.e. local environmental work and employment. We do not distribute profits to our owners. Read more about the financial responsibility of Kierrätyskeskus.

Environmental work is reflected in our daily decisions

Environmental work is reflected in everything we do.

  • We do our utmost to direct as much of the donations we receive to reuse as possible.
  • We avoid waste generation to the last. However, what waste we do have is carefully sorted. We are actively looking for solutions for the largest single waste streams: books and textiles.
  • A key person for the environmental management system and an eco-support person have been appointed at each site.
  • Almost all employees at Kierrätyskeskus take part in training to enable them to do their work in the right way, to recognise the environmental impact of the operation and to understand the rationale behind it.

Thanks in part to these efforts, we have been awarded the following labels:

The Association for Finnish Work has awarded Kierrätyskeskus the Social Enterprise mark. The mark communicates about companies that develop solutions to social or environmental problems.

Kierrätyskeskus has been awarded an EcoCompass certificate. EcoCompass is a streamlined environmental management tool for SMEs, providing a systematic approach to environmental management.

The Hakaniemi office of Kierrätyskeskus (administration and environmental training) uses WWF’s Green Office environmental system.