Voss herad has saved half a million NOK through creative reuse solutions

When the Health Center in Voss herad needed 20 chairs for a newly renovated meeting room, the municipality decided to first check what they already had. Instead of buying new furniture, chairs from the old fire station were brought out and reupholstered. The result was a new meeting room, lower costs, and meaningful work training.

Old Chairs Get a New Life

Najla Zagorcic from the Building and Property Department was put in charge of the reupholstering. She has previous experience with a sewing machine and carried out the work together with Liliia Vilshanivska from Ukraine, who has been participating in a work training program through NAV.

The fabric on the chairs was very worn, but the wooden frames were still in good condition. Now the chairs can be used for many more years. Najla has also begun reupholstering several office chairs from the Courthouse.

Chairs inventoried in Voss herads’s Loopfront system. Najla Zagorcic is reupholstering office chairs. Photo.

Commitment to Reuse

The reupholstering is part of Voss Municipality’s commitment to reuse, which was adopted in the municipal plan “Vossaklima 2030.” Climate and environmental advisor Lina Hamre explains that their goal is to use their items for as long as possible so they don’t have to buy new ones.

Last year, the municipality began using Loopfront, where employees can list furniture they no longer need on the platform’s internal marketplace so that other parts of the organization can put it to use. The furniture becomes available for free pickup by others in the municipality, and employees arrange pickup directly with each other via the platform.

“More and more people are using Loopfront to look for furniture. That’s great, but for the tool to work well, we need more people to also list the furniture they have to spare.”

- Lina Hamre (Climate and Environmental Advisor for Voss Municipality)

In the fall of 2025, the municipality established a new procurement procedure for purchasing furniture that requires them to check what they already have before buying new items.

Voss Municipality’s furniture procurement procedure. Source: https://voss.herad.no/

Half a million NOK saved through furniture reuse

A report from Loopfront in May showed that 196 pieces of furniture had been reused so far since August of the previous year. If the furniture had been purchased new, it would have cost the municipality 487,428 kroner (44 850 EUR)

Reuse has also saved more than three metric tons of waste and reduced emissions by 9.6 metric tons of CO₂ equivalents.


Liliia Vilshanivska, Vita Reznik (employment counselor at NAV), and climate and environmental advisor Lina Hamre proudly show off the “new” chairs at Helsehuset. Photo: Voss herad.

Collaboration for Success

The Department of Construction and Real Estate has played a key role in the reuse initiative. They are responsible for ensuring that items are moved to their intended locations and that the reuse ativities are recorded in Loopfront. In addition, they assist with the disassembly and repair of furniture as needed.

For Voss herad, this initiative is about both reducing purchases and demonstrating how good choices can create value in multiple areas at the same time.

“There is great value to be gained from keeping our furniture in use longer, so this makes sense. Furthermore, the Vossaklima 2030 plan states that the municipality should lead by example and serve as a role model through our actions. We hope that this effort toward reuse will inspire others.”

— Håkon Innset (Head of Construction and Real Estate for Voss Municipality)

This summer, Voss Municipality also had two young people working summer jobs helping the municipality gain a better overview. Among other things, they assisted with cleanup, inventory, and reviewing everything registered on the platform.

Voss herad demonstrates how simple measures, good collaboration, and a clear overview of their own resources can yield economic, environmental, and social benefits. This article is based on Voss herad’s newsletter dated June 5, 2026.

Would you like to learn more about how Loopfront can help your organization systematize reuse? We’d be happy to meet with you!