A renovated building on the busy Barriere de Saint-Gilles will house two organisations dedicated to giving discarded items such as clothes and furniture a second life for affordable prices.
The €2.8 million refurbished building will house fifteen flats, while on the ground floor there will be a large room for the Social Recycling Centre, a non-profit which collects furniture and other waste items to be restored or recycled, DH reports.
In 2023, La Recyclerie Sociale collected 128 tonnes of used goods, of which 111 tonnes of used goods were reused. Items are all collected from private homes, restored to their original condition and resold at low prices.
Run by Group One and the municipality, this circular economy project has been going ahead for a few years, but the location change signifies a desire by the Saint-Gilles authorities to give the non-profit organisation greater visibility. Previously, it struggled to attract customers from its premises on Rue de Belgrade.
'Without breaking the bank'
Alongside the Social Recycling Centre, the Couture Truck will also have a presence on the site. This organisation is better known for its mobile truck that roams the markets and squares of the city, allowing people to bring their clothes to be fixed.
Now with a permanent presence in Saint-Gilles, these garments are all repaired, retouched or even styled with new scraps of fabric, all donated by Oxfam, with whom they have a collaboration. The sewing workshop also designs and creates its own clothes, for example a rain jacket made from recycled umbrellas, which has proven to be a huge hit.
Saint-Gilles Councillor Catherine François (PS) believes the new location of these projects will create local jobs, but also allow people to furnish their flat "without breaking the bank," she told DH.
"We decided to showcase our local social economy projects. We didn't want yet another overpriced bobo shop," she continued. However, one of the best-selling rain jackets was found in a trendy shop in the area at four-times the price, something the councillor described as "annoying" but also hard to prevent.
