At our last consortium meeting in Vienne, our consortium partner BauKarussell showed us a very special chair. We have asked them to share the story of this chair .
In 3.300 hours of social economy work, our BauKarussell and its partners processed 80.000 kg of material on behalf of the City of Vienna – a quarter was reused. The original Ferry Dusika Stadium in the second district of Vienna, opened in 1977, was to be replaced by a new sports arena with several multifunctional halls and areas. The project was conducted by the City of Vienna, who reached out to BauKarussell to help get the most out of the demolition process. BauKarussell and its partners were at work in the stadium between June and September 2021 to make the demolition environmentally and socially sustainable. The removal of harmful and disruptive substances such as PVC flooring and the securing of recyclable materials were part of the Social Urban Mining service package that BauKarussell implemented.
Over 20.000 kg of re-use products preserved
Re-use as a circular economy practice that preserves the product value of objects was an integral part of the service package. One could say there was a real run on the grandstand chairs: Within a very short timeframe, 1.100 chairs were sold to numerous private and commercial customers. Around 100 chairs went to the start-up treecycle, which will use them as outdoor seating for a “flying classroom” in the parking lot of the Volkshilfe Wien job factory, among other things. Thus, the iconic chairs can live on in many different places, such as checkrooms, entrance halls or outdoor areas.
But it is not just chairs that will serve new purposes in new contexts: The municipality of Großenzersdorf is using 70 blocks of stone (weighing a total of 1.400 kg) from the outside area of the stadium to design the park. Loudspeakers are to be used again at the Impulstanz Festival, among other events.
“The individual reasons for reuse are manifold – from nostalgia to resource conservation. In any case, we achieve positive effects for the environment and climate – and in the case of social urban mining, also for people who have a hard time on the job market,” explains Markus Meissner, founder and board member at BauKarussell.
On top of the success in terms of resource preservation, BauKarussell also made significant social impact with their project surrounding the Ferry-Dusika Stadium. 25 people found employment through the cooperation with socioeconomic enterprises, like Die KÜMMEREI (sponsor: BFI Vienna/Job-TransFair) and the Dismantling and Recycling Center (DRZ) of the socio-economic operation of Wiener Volkshochschulen GmbH. The proceeds from re-use and securing recyclable materials are used to finance the socio-economic work.
Header photo copyrighted by BauKarussell.
