EUREFAS Feedback on the Disclosure of information on unsold consumer products

EUREFAS - the European Refurbishment Association - welcomes the opportunity to provide high level comments on the draft Act. Our association gathers actors of the refurbishment sector interested in ensuring long-term sustainability of the consumer electronics industry by allowing devices to get multiple use lives.

The core of our business model and industry lies with access to supply of electric or electronic devices that have not yet become waste.However, this supply from the EU remains largely insufficient due to factors beyond our control, including the lack of appropriate collection schemes, consumers’ reluctance to return their devices, manufacturers’ policies to send collected products directly to recycling, and the premature destruction of unsold or returned goods.

Yet, the preventive measures listed in Annex 1 currently do not take account of activities such as refurbishment. “Preparing for reuse” - from the waste hierarchy - is a concept that only refers to products or components that have become waste (per Article 3 point 16 of the Waste Framework Directive). This does not reflect the reality of our sector, which primarily works with products that are not yet waste.

We therefore recommend that the Regulation should incentivise traders to avoid the destruction of unsold goods, particularly if they haven’t yet reached the status of “waste”. We strongly support the extension of the scope of the ban on the destruction of unsold goods to more product categories, including consumer electronics such as mobile phones, smartphones, laptops and computers.

We would like to see refurbishment recognised as a standalone activity, ranked higher than preparation for reuse and recycling in order to unlock access to untapped sources of supply. This would be one clear incentive for traders to turn to refurbishers to handle their goods instead of sending them to recycling or destruction, and contribute to the objectives of the circular economy.

Finally, we stress that not all products deemed “unsafe” necessarily need to be destroyed. Many can be safely refurbished or used as sources of spare parts, thereby supporting both product safety and circularity. We stand ready to support the European Commission in designing pragmatic approaches that avoid unjustified destruction while upholding consumer protection.