Reuse Minnesota - Impact report 2020

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Environmental, economic, and social impacts of reuse in Minnesota

Reuse Minnesota, with funding from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, conducted a study from late 2019 - early 2020 to develop a methodology and tools for collecting data to measure the environmental, economic, and social impacts of reuse, rental, and repair activities statewide.

Reuse, including rental and repair, extends the life of products and decreases the demand for manufacturing new replacements. Economic, environmental, and social benefits tend to be overlooked when talking about reuse.

Reuse Minnesota will use these results and storytelling strategy to support reuse businesses, strengthen the state’s reuse economy, and promote the value of reuse as an essential sustainability strategy.

Key findings

Visualize the numbers using the interactive map tool.

Environmental impacts:

Avoidance of over 2.7 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent emissions per year, including greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and hydrofluorocarbons.
Reduction of over 6
7 billion gallons in withdrawals of freshwater each year from ground or surface water sources.

Economic impacts:

Statewide, the reuse economy generates about $5.8 billion each year – $1,035 per capita per year.
The 10,631 reuse businesses make up 7% of all statewide businesses.
The reuse sector accounts for over 55,000 jobs in Minnesota, about 1 percent of overall employment in the state.

Social impacts:

Reuse businesses build a community of like-minded individuals. They encourage community identity and involvement
Reuse businesses provide value and opportunity to individuals