The reuse sector in Western Australia significantly contributes to sustainable development by generating economic value, creating jobs, supporting community programs, and achieving considerable environmental benefits.
The WA Reuse Impact Study – is an initiative of Charitable Reuse Australia and the State of Western Australia, represented by the Waste Authority c/o of the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER). Rawtec has been engaged to conduct the research, given their successful work on the NSW, TAS and SA studies.
Video recording of the WA Reuse Impact Study Info Session Webinar and Q&A
Measuring Reuse (and Repair) – Charitable Reuse Australia
DWER in partnership with Charitable Reuse Australia, is conducting a survey with reuse organisations in WA. Together, we are inviting all WA reuse organisations to participate in a study that will, for the first time, measure the scale and impact of reuse activities across Western Australia.
WA is the fourth Australian State Government to fund a Reuse Data Study, which will be conducted in line with Monash University’s National Reuse Measurement Guidelines and harmonised in scope with the successful NSW Reuse Data Study competed in June 2024, and the Tasmanian and SA studies completed in 2025.
The WA Reuse Impact Study 2025 will gather data on reuse activity, economic value, associated employment, social and environmental impacts, and the repair of second-hand items prior to sale.
The reuse sector does not receive any direct government policy or funding support anywhere in Australia to accelerate its impact. It is currently all self-funded. You can help to change this. Your participation in the survey will:
- Inform government policy development to support reuse.
- Highlight the value of your activities to stakeholders.
- Help DWER identify ways to accelerate reuse efforts in WA.
Charitable Reuse Australia has engaged Rawtec, a leading consultancy in the circular economy, to manage the survey, data analysis, and reporting. Your responses will be kept confidential to Rawtec and Charitable Reuse Australia and will be anonymised in all reports.
A questionnaire will be sent to all WA reuse organisations shortly, but in the meantime, please contact Charitable Reuse Australia for more information:
Omer Soker on omer@charitablereuse.org.au or 0401 099 821
Salma Ghoraba on salma@charitablereuse.org.au or 0405 620 960
The WA Waste Authority and DWER would like all WA op shops, tip shops and reuse shops included in the groundbreaking Reuse Impact Study, so please help us spread the word – especially to all the smaller shops that might not be on our database. Please let Omer or Salma know of any shops you know of across WA that should be included – or spread the word directly about this important study.
This links to the EPA objectives of improved data capability around waste and emissions, and the increased capacity to measure and support higher-order (reuse and repair) initiatives.
Message from Charitable Reuse Australia
Charitable Reuse Australia would like to thank the Waste Authority and DWER for their leadership, vision and support of higher order interventions.
The data on reuse (and repair) to be captured through this program will help inform government policy development, as it will quantify the quantum of reuse in WA, as well as its environmental, economic and social impacts.
The benefit for the government is simple. We all know the Waste Hierarchy establishes preferred priorities based on efficacy. So the more higher-order interventions are actioned, the more effective the outcomes. The better the outcomes, the faster Australian governments reach their targets – whether it is zero waste, CO2 emissions, resource management or any circularity target. The faster we reach our targets, the closer we get to a Circular Economy. And if we do that … we will create a sustainable and prosperous future for Australia. And it starts with working higher up the Waste Hierarchy.
Reuse (& Repair) Program Scope and Reuse Measurement Guidelines
In collaboration with Charitable Reuse Australia, Monash University has developed an Australian first initiative with a robust methodology that establishes a standardised approach to the measurement of reuse data, and its commensurate environmental, economic and social impacts.
This program delivers funding to populate Monash University’s National Reuse Measurement Guidelines to capture reuse data in full scope across all states from charitable and commercial reuse enterprises, as well as a subset of data covering repair..
In the Monash University approach, reuse will be measured at the point of sale, which captures information about the quantity of items resold, the category of items, and their cost – and allows for the interpretation of data into average weights per category, average material composition and product life cycle assessments that are readily available.
22 product categories used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics will be researched for reuse impact, including Clothing, Footwear, Textiles, Furniture, Homewares, Electronics, Building Materials and Hardware.
By gathering this data for the first time in WA, it will now be possible to demonstrate the social, environmental and economic impacts of reuse, including:
- Avoided virgin material consumption and greenhouse gas emissions savings
- Employment and volunteer opportunities – in a high job creation sector including scaling jobs for people facing barriers
- Skills development and work-readiness support – to capture the additional supports the sector provides over and above typical training, to integrate people facing barriers
- Education and community engagement – to capture reuse and repair workshops, events and training
- Total value of reused goods sold in the sector each year
- Total value of goods provided for welfare and in-kind to other organisations
The activities required will be to engage every reuse organisation in WA, set them up to measure the data in a consistent methodology as outlined in the guidelines, and then capture the data with a robust, consistent methodology, and then quantify the environmental, economic and social impact using Monash University’s Reuse Measurement Guidelines as a framework.
Research Project Partner – Rawtec
Charitable Reuse Australia has engaged Rawtec; as an independent, leading Australian specialist in the circular economy, sustainable resource and waste management; to develop a robust and efficient methodology and project plan to capture the data on reuse and repair in alignment with the Monash University Reuse Measurement Guidelines.
Rawtec was also Charitable Reuse Australia’s partner on the successful NSW, TAS and SA Reuse Impact Studies completed in 2024 and 2025.
The WA Reuse Impact Study project will be delivered by June 2026, with the following stages planned commencing November 2025:
- Project Planning
- Data Collection
- Data Cleansing & Analysis
- Reports & Presentations
- Rawtec Website
Benefits for Reuse (and Repair) Organisations
The benefits for reuse and repair organisations are also simple. The better data we can capture will inform not only government policy making (and potential future funding), but also enable individual organisations to report on their own impact, with their own stakeholders, customers, donors, and funders.
The project seeks to gather data from all reuse organisations in Western Australia, which will only be used in aggregate for the program datasets. Charitable Reuse Australia will also provide support for organisations to complete the data.
All organisations operating in reuse, repair and the share economy are encouraged to contact us for more information on the program and/or to be added to the database for inclusion.