Refurbished: Building a high-quality circular economy in the face of low-cost illusions

The circular economy is no longer a utopian vision held by pioneers; it has become a cornerstone of European economic sovereignty and ecological transition. Yet, as the refurbished market (with smartphones and high-tech products leading the way) continues to boom, an insidious threat looms over our sector: the loss of trust.

As co-founder of Recommerce and President of Rcube.org, I strongly align myself with Lever 7 of the Paris Call, led by the Réseau Vrac et Réemploi. This lever is crucial: it concerns the requirement for quality and the uncompromising fight against unfair practices.
The conclusion is clear: we cannot build a sustainable alternative to the linear extraction model if “refurbished” products are perceived as a gamble in terms of quality. It is time to separate the wheat from the chaff and to highlight those who make reuse an activity that supports purchasing power, French and European sovereignty, and quality.

The scourge of unfair practices: when “cheap” kills reuse

Over the past decade, the refurbished market has scaled significantly. This democratization is a success, but it has also attracted players whose environmental and social ethics are inversely proportional to their appetite for growth. Today, we are witnessing a proliferation of unfair practices—often via marketplaces—that harm the entire French and European ecosystem.
These practices take several forms. First, there is superficial refurbishment, where technical checks are limited to simple cosmetic cleaning, without any real verification of internal components or battery condition. Then there is the widespread use of counterfeit or low-quality spare parts, drastically reducing the lifespan of devices and turning an ecological gesture into premature electronic waste.
But the issue is also regulatory and fiscal. Some players operate from hard-to-track geographical areas, using intermediaries such as ghost agents and marketplaces to bypass VAT rules, eco-contributions, CE marking requirements, or private copying levies. These behaviors have two consequences: artificially low prices that attract consumers in an inflationary context, and severe distortions of competition for local players who invest in nearby facilities and in training qualified technicians.

Lever 7 of the Paris Call is clear: fighting these practices is not just about consumer protection—it is a matter of survival for responsible players in the sector.

All these practices damage the customer experience and, consequently, the viability of the refurbishment industry. If consumers are disappointed by poor-quality refurbished products, they will turn back to new ones. The ecological cost of such disappointment is immense.

The demand for quality: the foundation of trust and scaling up

Faced with this “jungle,” the only answer is excellence. Reuse is not a “second-rate” economy; it is a high-tech industry that requires rigorous processes, traceability, and full transparency. For reuse to become the default choice, we must guarantee a level of service and reliability equal to—or even greater than—that of new products.
This is where the RecQ Label (Quality Refurbishment), promoted by Rcube and certified by DEKRA Certification, becomes essential. This label goes far beyond vague marketing promises. It is a demanding standard that audits purchasing, collection, testing (over 50 checkpoints), repair, refurbishment, end-of-life component management, the maintenance of a police register to prevent fraud or poor traceability, data erasure verification, as well as the actual location of workshops and compliance with regulations and standards. Promoting best practices through the RecQ Label gives consumers a compass. It tells them: “This device has truly been refurbished, tested by experts, fitted with quality components that meet European standards, and backed by a solid professional warranty.”

By promoting this label, we move away from a purely price-driven logic toward one based on value in use. Lever 7 of the Paris Call urges us to strengthen these quality standards so that refurbished products are seen as a rational and safe choice.

A call for strict regulation and platform responsibility

Quality cannot rely solely on the goodwill of refurbishers. It must be supported by a strong political and legislative framework. The Paris Call highlights the need to regulate those who facilitate the marketing of non-compliant products. Marketplaces have a major responsibility: they cannot remain mere intermediaries. They must guarantee the compliance of sellers and the products they distribute, especially when directly targeting European consumers.
At the same time, and to legally secure the activity, we call for a European harmonization of refurbishment criteria. It is unacceptable that the same term can refer both to a product that has simply been wiped clean and to one restored to proper working condition according to industrial standards. Greater transparency regarding product origin and transport-related carbon footprint must also become the norm.

The fight we are leading with Rcube and through the Paris Call is a fight for genuine sustainability. We do not want a circular economy that is merely an extension of disposable consumerism painted green. We want an economy where repairing, reusing, and refurbishing are done with pride and rigor.
Refurbishment represents a historic opportunity for Europe to regain control over consumption, job creation, sovereignty, and waste reduction. But this opportunity will only be seized if we are uncompromising about quality. Not everyone working in refurbishment is exemplary.

By promoting widespread adoption of labels like RecQ and by strictly penalizing unfair practices, we are protecting far more than consumers—we are safeguarding the future of an economic model capable of respecting planetary boundaries without sacrificing social progress.

The message is simple: for reuse to succeed, it must be beyond reproach.

This article is a translated version. The original publication is available on Les Echos Solutions :
https://solutions.lesechos.fr/business/actu-entreprise/reconditionne-ppour-une-economie-circulaire-d-excellence-face-aux-mirages-du-low-cost/