Orange attack the subject by several sides

The French have with their mobile phone a close relationship of polygamy: to acquire new regularly, while retaining their predecessors. Some 60 million handsets and sleep in our drawers, and this stock continues to grow under the flow of the 22 million annual purchases. After years of trial and error, the players in the telecoms are trying to connect this demand with this huge power supply, with the emergence of a new market: the laptop second hand. According to estimates, 10 to 11 million portable unused could be recovered annually, against less than 1 million currently, flowing primarily in emerging markets.

Found in the current proliferation of initiatives will respond to the purchase of cheaper phones, due to the crisis, but also a requirement to limit environmental nuisance of this very broadcast technology. With a common obstacle: persuade the owner to be separate.

Voluntary or private

Two types of very different actors continental deposit in addition to 60 million devices. First is the historic actor of the recycling of consumer goods, the workshops of Bocage association, which belongs to the domestic economy of solidarity and insertion of Emmaus France (read below). But since a few months, the private sector was also invested, taken by young companies. "The opportunity to market has reached maturity three years in Britain, but it does that start here," said Ambroise de Sainte Foy, just create Mobilorama on the model of Fonebak. The latter is the showcase of the British group Regenersis, which has 18 million portable recycled to its credit since its launch in 2002. These websites take hundreds of models, a sum ranging from a few euros more than 200 euro. "Our prices are in line with the argus in the international market for the opportunity", said Ambroise de Sainte Foy. They generally belong to groups specialized in electronic repair services, of sort and value laptops recovered. They are ultimately sold in France, through the same Web sites, or abroad. It is monextel, Recommerce Solutions, or Love2recycle.fr of the European Group Anovo group.

Recovery operations

All stain their offer of a green, social or humanitarian, sponsorship history to actuate the sensitive chords of consumers. Fonebak proposes to reverse the payment to a charity like the Téléthon, Mobilorama argues in the same way doctors of the world. Love2Recycle.fr partnered with the position, which provides free of charge to the consumer a letter to move the laptop up to the place of treatment.

By stimulating the owner financially, these new entrants have the merit of a chain of recycling that was struggling to take off. The movement was initiated in recent years by the WEEE regulations (collection and disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment), 2005. This Act was designed to avoid landfill or incineration of these devices, two polluting garage tracks because of the toxic products of electronic devices. It forced operators, but also distributors to return to the old apparatus of a consumer when he bought one. Most well played game, accepting sometimes two aircraft for a purchase or terminals of the clients by the installation of terminals in stores, on the model of the receptacles for batteries. The three licensed companies (Ecologic, Eco-systems, ERP) collect also many municipal depots or stores partners more than 8,000 points in all. But the rest bad phone student Act. "In three years, the WEEE sector has progressed well, with a weight of recycling of 2 kg to 5 kg per capita per year." "But the flow of small appliances still suffers from lower collection rates and it is even worse for the laptops, which mired at 5," said Dominique Mignon, Director of the development of Eco-systems.

Regularly, operators and distributors boosting machine. Bouygues Telecom had proposed late January a resume the old operation phones with for claimants Recommerce Solutions, the workshops of the Bocage and the ecologist Surfrider Foundation association. SFR has allied with the voice of the child (Federation of associations for the protection of child abuse) and pay him 7 euros for each mobile collected with its battery.

Orange attack the subject by several sides. First by discouraging excessive renewals from mobile (20 to 30 months on average): since March 2009, its customers with more of 1,200 points of loyalty may relinquish them to receive in Exchange 40 euros. Orange adds to this amount the payment of 5 to its partner, WWF. The formula has attracted 40,000 subscribers, instead of the women over 40 years old and faithful in telephony. The operation reported 200,000 euros to the WWF and proves winning operator "since we avoid the grant of a new unit", recognizes Jean-Marie Culpin, Director of marketing of Orange.

Encourage resellers

Downstream, the operator seeks to promote laptops from opportunity to its after-sales services (purchase bid retractions, outages, etc.), sold for 25 to 95 euros. There, approximately 40,000 people would have acceded to the offer last year. Orange says formed its vendors to these new practices. "For years, they have an incentive to the sale of new terminal by awards." "For that they are not penalized by promoting the operations of second life, they are accounted for in a subindicator", explains Jean-Marie Culpin.

The next track of recycling will take place April 22, Earth Day date, and the two following days. Orange and workshops of the Bocage to resume old phones, that the owner or client or not operator.