Halden Municipality had a lot of furniture and fixtures in an empty school building, but lacked the structure and resources to invest in reuse.
When the municipality linked its reuse work to the rehabilitation company Halden Arbeid og Vekst, things really started to happen. Now they have structure, transport, repair and a reuse storage that is actively used by employees in the municipality.
In our webinar on April 22, Martine Hageengen Ringdal, environmental advisor in Halden Municipality, and Marius Bråthen, supervisor at Halden Arbeid og Vekst (Halden Work and Growth), shared how they went from a somewhat slow start to a well-functioning system for reuse in everyday life.
From disused school to systematic storage
The municipality had already taken care of furniture and fixtures that could be reused at the disused Asak school, which had been empty for a long time. But without dedicated resources, it was difficult to get an overview.
"We really wanted to reuse the resources we have internally, but it was difficult to set up a system when no one had the time to take responsibility for it."
- Martine Hageengen Ringdal
(environmental advisor in Halden Municipality)
The turning point came when Halden arbeid og vekst needed new premises for its business. The property department saw an opportunity: Perhaps they could both get premises and help handle the municipality's furniture reuse? This was the start of a collaboration that has given Halden a whole new momentum in its reuse work.
Collaboration with Halden Arbeid og Vekst
They started by clearing, sorting and registering furniture at Asak School into the Loopfront platform. They started surveying the nicest things, so employees could quickly see that there was actually good furniture available.
Ready for reuse
From the start of 2025, the solution was ready for proper use in the municipality, and when employees could go into Loopfront and see what was available, the threshold became lower for ordering used furniture instead of new.
"What had an immediate effect was when all the employees got access and could go into the marketplace and see what we had available."
- Martine Hageengen Ringdal
(environmental advisor in Halden municipality)
(We drive, pick up furniture, bring it to the storage and into the Loopfront-solution)
Giving used furniture new life
Today, Halden Arbeid og vekst handles much of the practical flow. They register furniture, organize the storage, prepare orders, wash over products, deliver furniture and make simple repairs.
"There's always someone who raises their hand and asks: Can I help drive the furniture?"
- Marius Bråthen (supervisor at Halden Arbeid og Vekst)
Gradually, the need for a small furniture workshop also emerged. Many pieces of furniture don't need much to become usable again. It can be a matter of replacing wheels, tightening screws, putting on a new back plate or using parts from one piece of furniture to repair another. It doesn't necessarily require specialist expertise.
"If you've assembled a bit of IKEA furniture, you have a pretty good chance of getting things done."
- Marius Bråthen (supervisor at Halden Arbeid og Vekst)
Martine follows up from the environmental side, helps employees when needed and uses the reporting in Loopfront to document both financial savings and reductions in waste and emissions.
Savings and circular success factors
Since opening up for employees to order furniture from their storage through Loopfront, the municipality has saved over NOK 1.2 million NOK, 17 tons of CO2 eq. and 6 tons of waste by using what they already have instead of ordering new.
Halden Municipality has shown that the key is to start with what you have, use existing buildings smarter and find the people who can do the job in practice.
"If you can't find it internally, if you can find someone to collaborate with, like we've done with HAV, I think that's a good tip."
- Martine Hageengen Ringdal
(environmental advisor in Halden municipality)
Halden also shows that a reuse storage does not have to be a classic warehouse. An old school can work well, as long as you manage to create a system.
They have also chosen to leave some furniture where it already is, for example in buildings that will be emptied later. Then the products can be registered in Loopfront with the correct location, without having to be transported to the main storage immediately, which saves time, transportation and capacity.
"You don't always need to transport everything either.You can leave it where it is and use it as a storage."
- Marius Bråthen (supervisor at Halden Arbeid og Vekst)
Watch the recording of the entire webinar with Martine and Marius from Halden Municipality to hear more about how they started, structuring, solve reuse in practice, and what advice they have for others who want to succeed with reuse.
Would you like to know more about how Loopfront can help your business systematize reuse? We'd love to have a chat with you!