On 18 September 2025, from 10:00 to 13:00, the expert dialogue “Second-Hand Instead of New – Calculating and Communicating CO₂ Savings Potential” took place. The event was organized by Ecologic Institute on behalf of the Berlin Senate Department for Mobility, Transport, Climate Protection and the Environment (SenMVKU) and was held online.

Extending the lifespan of products through reuse and repair is a key lever for reducing waste and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. To make the potential of these strategies visible, transparent calculation methods and effective means of communicating the resulting environmental impacts are essential.

What happened?

Representatives from practice, academia, administration, and civil society provided insightful presentations on the development and application of effective assessment and communication approaches to quantify CO₂ savings from waste prevention measures. In addition, the roughly 70 participants had the opportunity to ask questions to the speakers and contribute their own perspectives. A written summary in German of the event and the individual presentations can be found above.

The event was aimed at professionals from practice, civil society, politics, and research who are active in the fields of reuse and repair. The language of the event was German.

Recordings of the individual presentations will be available shortly on our YouTube channel. The presentation slides can be accessed below.

• Regine Vogt (ifeu – Institut für Energie- und Umweltforschung): Klimaschutz durch Wiederverwendung – worauf kommt es an? (CO2-Tool von Re-Use Berlin)
• Ina Schulze (SenMVKU): Einsatz des CO2-Rechners in der Praxis
• Frieder Söling (NochMall) und Dr. Markus Spitznagel (BSR-Klimaschutzbüro): Berechnung von CO2-Einsparungen im Gebrauchtwarenkaufhaus NochMall der Berliner Stadtreinigung
• Sarah Keller (Circular City – Zirkuläre Stadt e.V.): A-Gain Guide CO2-Kalkulator. Kalkulation der Klimawirkungen von Re-Use Kanälen für Textilien
• Linn Quante (anstiftung): Reparieren, dokumentieren, sichtbar machen Die Reparaturstatistik auf www.reparatur-initiativen.de
• Dr. Manuel Bickel und Jan-Luis Dietz (Wuppertal Institut): Ein lebenszyklus-analytischer Blick auf Reparatur – ökologische Einsparpotentiale und Reboundeffekte
• Johannes Scholz (TU Berlin): Digitales Inventar, reale Einsparung: Von Konzepten zu Tools zur Berechnung der Umweltwirkungen durch Wiederverwendung