The electronic / electrical mess, a major environmental challenge
Each year in France, 622 million new electrical and electronic equipment flood the market. The logical consequence of this over-consumption is that each Frenchman produces on average 21 kg of electrical and electronic waste (DEE) and less than 30% is now collected by eco-organisms. The remainder, more than a million tons (the equivalent of 25 aircraft carriers Charles de Gaulle) ends up being burnt in illegal landfills in Africa or India, destroying the environment and health of thousands of people . Recycling is by no means the ideal solution to fight against EAD.
Fight against programmed obsolescence and waste
The recycling of used phones has grown in recent years, reaching 30% of the devices put on the market. But then it involves making new phones. Let's take the example of the Apple iPhone 6: the production stage is responsible for 85% of the greenhouse gas emissions related to the complete life cycle of the phone. And only 11% of these emissions are related to the use of the telephone. For this reason, Back Market: the first marketplace exclusively dedicated to the sale of refurbished products *, has endeavored to find an alternative to recycling in order to manage the problem of recycling more effectively. DEE. And this alternative, they found it in the industry of reconditioned products.
The stated aim of Back Market is to make " re-made in France " and to combat the obsolescence programmed by " making cool the re-use" , explains Vianney. But in the end, the goal is also to " make Darty tremble " .
The platform is primarily concerned with reassuring the customer : each product collected is completely revised, repaired, and has a guarantee of at least six months. The devices, sold up to 75% cheaper than the new one , are associated with a sheet summarizing these operations. In addition, the site allows the consumer to record the reconditioning plants each of which was selected by Back Market after a visit to its premises. This new platform wants to democratize the re-use of high tech . More reassuring than the occasion due to warranty and after-sales service, more responsible and cheaper than new , repackaging presents a whole series of advantages. A more ecological path than recycling, which also provides better guarantees than the second-hand market.
Trust and quality: guaranteeing the competitiveness of reconditioned products vs new products in the mind of the consumer
Faced with a new product, a reconditioned object always starts with a serious handicap in the imagination of the consumer: the tenacious (and frankly inaccurate) prejudice that a reconditioned product is necessarily of mediocre quality, and therefore unreliable. As long as this prejudice persists, the consumption of reconditioned products will remain a niche phenomenon. This is why Back Market has put in place a number of tools and safeguards to reassure the consumer about the quality of products offered for sale
Thanks to Thibaud Hug de Larauze, co-founder of Back market
Sources : Apple, StEP, in partnership with the United Nations, Ademe
* A refurbished product is a device that was bought back from its previous owner and then put back in perfect working order before being sold at a lower cost to a new buyer.
