Practical information
Description
Timeline
Stakeholders
Strengths and offer
Urban logistics
Positive impacts
Needs
Logistical challenges
Practical information
What?
Troc & Brol is a neighbourhood reuse space combining drop-off of good-condition donations, free home collection within the Marolles, object recovery, free redistribution, workshops, Repair Café activities and community encounters. The project now seeks to move away from the idea of “bulky waste”, in order not to become a simple dumping point for objects that cannot be reused.
Who?
The project is led by the Public Cleanliness Service of the City of Brussels and was born within the Sustainable Neighbourhood Contract of the Marolles. It involves a local coordination team, residents, volunteers, young people from the neighbourhood and partner organisations.
Where?
Marolles, Brussels.
The project is currently communicated by the City at Place du Jeu de Balle 66-67. A 2023 report located it at Rue des Capucins 26-28, suggesting an evolution or relocation of the system.
When?
The project was launched within the Sustainable Neighbourhood Contract of the Marolles.
A March 2023 article indicates that it had been installed on Rue des Capucins since 23 November 2022.
In 2025, the project moved to Place du Jeu de Balle 66-67 and adapted its format.
Contact
epv.troc-brol@brucity.be — 02 279 60 80
Franthesca — coordinator — 0490 32 03 03
Jawad — home collection — 0490 67 48 47
Repair Café des Marolles
Resources
City of Brussels; lesmarolles.be; Repair Together; Reporterre; Citynova; Troc & Brol interview / notes.
Description
Troc & Brol is presented as the first neighbourhood reuse space in Brussels. The project responds to a double issue in the Marolles: on the one hand, the significant presence of informal dumps and abandoned objects; on the other, the lack of simple, free and nearby spaces to drop off, repair, take back or circulate still-useful objects.
The system combines several functions: free home collection within the Marolles, soft-mobility collection, sorting, temporary storage, cleaning, repair, free redistribution, awareness-raising workshops, creative workshops and Repair Café activities. Objects can be put directly back into circulation, repaired, transformed or redirected to other actors in the local circular economy.
The project’s interest lies in transforming a cleanliness issue into a local reuse chain. Troc & Brol does not only handle objects: it organises short flows, collection operations, small-scale handling, sorting, intermediate storage, redistribution and awareness-raising. The place therefore functions as a neighbourhood micro-logistics hub, at the scale of the last mile and everyday life.
Timeline
Sustainable Neighbourhood Contract of the Marolles
Political and financial framework for launching the project.
23 November 2022
A report locates the project on Rue des Capucins from this date.
2023–2025
Continuation of the system with workshops, Repair Café activities and municipal communication.
2025
Move to Place du Jeu de Balle 66-67. The project adapts its format: more awareness-raising, a one-object-per-person rule, more creative workshops, and reflection on large furniture and the future of the system.
Today
The project continues as a neighbourhood reuse space, with reinforced attention to donation quality, sorting, animation and flow management.
Stakeholders
The Public Cleanliness Service of the City of Brussels, as the institutional framework and source of logistical and political support.
The Sustainable Neighbourhood Contract of the Marolles, as the initial territorial anchoring framework.
The Troc & Brol team, responsible for local coordination, operational management, sorting, reception and animation of the space.
Residents of the Marolles, volunteers and young people from the neighbourhood, who take part through donations, object recovery, workshops and awareness-raising.
Partner organisations mentioned in the interview: ULM, Cyclup, Circularium, technical schools such as Diderot, Samaritaine, Mazette, STALEM and BRAVVO.
The Repair Café des Marolles, as a partner for repair and the transmission of know-how.
Social and circular economy actors, notably for redirecting certain textiles or objects that are not put directly back into circulation.
Strengths and offer
Free and local service, within a logic of local public service.
Free home collection within the Marolles neighbourhood.
Free shop allowing everyday objects to be put back into circulation.
Repair, creation, transformation and awareness-raising workshops.
Repair Café and moments of encounter between residents.
Soft-mobility collection: handcart, cargo bike, very low motorisation.
Reuse before waste: cleaning, repair, transformation or redirection before possible disposal at a recycling centre.
Transformation of a cleanliness problem into a social, creative and community space.
Co-construction and strong local identity, anchored in the life of the Marolles.
Desire to collect data on quantities, drop-off addresses and objects recovered, in order to better map flows.
Urban logistics
How does it work?
Objects are dropped off locally or collected from residents of the Marolles by appointment. Home collections are carried out using soft mobility, with handcarts, cargo bikes or light systems. Objects are then sorted, temporarily stored, cleaned, repaired or redirected to other circular economy actors. Those that can still be used are redistributed free of charge in the reuse space. Non-recoverable objects, or those that do not leave after a certain time, may be sent to a recycling centre.
Why is it interesting?
Because Troc & Brol shows that urban logistics is not only about the arrival of goods, but also about their exit, reuse and end of life. The project acts on very ordinary flows: dishes, clothes, small objects, furniture, broken items, donations, waste and trips to the recycling centre. It makes it possible to mutualise these flows at neighbourhood scale, reduce some individual trips to recyparks and optimise the local circulation of resources.
Which obstacles does it respond to?
Distant recycling centres, limited transport means for some residents, resource waste, informal dumping, lack of drop-off and sorting spaces, need for low-motorised solutions adapted to dense urban fabric, lack of accessible information on existing solutions, persistent habits of consumption and disposal, and access difficulties for certain groups such as elderly people or people with reduced mobility.
Identified nodes / obstacles
Local transport; removal of objects; temporary storage; sorting; limited capacity relative to collected volumes; reuse; redirection of objects; waste management at neighbourhood scale; handling time; awareness-raising time; very low motorisation; irregular incoming flows; peaks in donations; bulky or non-recoverable objects; dependence on human resources; lack of a truly suitable digital tool for tracking flows and data.
Positive impacts
Environment — limitation of some motorised trips to the recycling centre, extension of object lifespan and reduction of resource waste.
Space — potential reduction of informal dumping, better local management of bulky objects and less clutter in public space.
Neighbourhood — calmer neighbourhood if objects are handled differently from abandonment in the street, with clearer visibility of existing solutions.
Social relations — very strong impact: exchanges, repair, free flea-market dynamics, workshops, encounters, transmission of know-how, volunteering and sense of belonging.