Promoting Refurbished Products – A Way to Go Forward

Recently I was in an e-waste awareness workshop organized by one of the leading industry associations in India. The speakers spoke eloquently on why e-waste management is important for a country like India and how a recently promulgated guideline on e-waste management has become a game changer for waste management in India. So far, so good.

At the end of the session, I could not help but ask a question to the speaker – What percentage of e-waste coming to recycler, at the end of products life, goes back to the producer as input? He was aghast at my question and retorted – why should it go back to producers? I was appalled to hear his reply! Even more appalling was the fact that this reply came from a person responsible for the green initiatives in his organization. This reply could have been understandable a decade ago when the sole mindset of producers was to launch new products at breakneck speed and when consumers were not enthusiastic about industries using reused or recycled spare parts in new products being sold in the market. But in today’s changed world, this reply was perplexing, to say the least.

Later in panel discussion, I spoke on the importance of closing the loop. For current and future scenario, linear economic model is no longer an option. We just cannot endlessly draw raw materials from earth, manufacture, distribute and consume products, and dispose them to landfill at the end of products life. This is all the more true in modern times, when products are discarded by consumers, much before their ‘life’, in the rush to own the latest model. In such a scenario, we must retrieve and re-use some of these parts from supposed ‘waste materials’ going to landfill. The mainstream producers of electronics equipment in India are still hesitant to associate with refurbished products, as they fear that it will cut into their market for new products and suspect that it would cast a shadow on their brand image. I think it is time they ‘wake up and smell the coffee’. The truth is Apple, an iconic brand, is selling refurbished products from store.apple.com! Apple must have considered the same conflicts that Indian electronic equipment manufacturers are currently going through. But Apple is selling refurbished products, backed by its warranty, as it offers value to some consumers. In fact, it adds to its USP, contributing to a feel-good factor in the consumer empowering them to do their bit for the environment.

It would be really interesting to see how consumers, producers and regulators join hand to promote refurbished products. For normal consumers, quality of refurbished products is a matter of great concerns. With less and less OEMs coming forward with such products, the market is flooded by local manufacturers offering the same.  Some of these products may have gone through some quality control system but most have variable quality leading to a poor perception of quality in the mind of consumers.  The onus to correct this squarely lies on producers, and government can surely chip in. Today most Eco label and third party certifications, such as EPEAT, for electronic products, specify minimum recycle plastic content. But remember, all these Eco label, voluntary standards and certifications are for new products.  Why can’t we have a label or standards for refurbished products that establish quality control system for manufacture/assembly of such products?

This may be a wild idea at present when many countries are still struggling to promote credible Eco label and voluntary environmental standards for new products. But countries having successful labeling scheme can definitely think of such voluntary standards and certification. The introduction of such standards will do as much good, if not more, as Eco label and voluntary environmental standards have done in promoting environmental friendly products. These standards and certification would help reduce variability of quality in refurbished products and remove quality stigma associated with refurbished products and also encourage the behavioral change of producers and consumers toward long–term sustainability. Backed by the Government demand for refurbished products, producers can join hands with recyclers in making such products that meets voluntary standards and invigorate refurbished market for times to come. 

I would like to end this piece with a phrase that my ten-year-old son had heard and now keeps repeating – You can’t run a linear system on a finite planet!