50 easy-to-use recycling kiosks inside Carrefour stores

18 / 11 / 2021

By Marwa Nassar - -

Back Market and Carrefour have joined forces with ecoATM – the technological expert in automatic smartphone recycling – to provide consumers with an in-store mobile phone valuation and trade-in service. More than 50 kiosks are already in operation in a number of Carrefour hypermarkets and supermarkets, with 135 set to be brought into service by the end of the year.

This partnership is raising people’s awareness of the circular economy in France by encouraging them to resell their old mobile phones. It involves easy-to-use recycling kiosks located actually inside Carrefour stores.

These are already available in more than 50 Carrefour stores, and by the end of 2021, the scheme will be extended to the whole of France with a further 135 kiosks.

By early 2022, 250 should be in operation. Customers will be able to have their old smartphones valued at these kiosks, and will be able to swap them immediately for Carrefour gift vouchers.

This is the first partnership of this kind with a retailer. This will help protect people’s purchasing power in France, as well as promoting more widespread use of refurbished devices, while at the same time supplying the production chain. It’s a way for Back Market to establish itself physically in people’s everyday lives, for Carrefour to shore up its commitment to the circular economy and for ecoATM to once again demonstrate its expertise in technology and sustainability.

“Resell your device – vital if we are to tackle the growing mountain of electrical and electronic waste 4%. That’s the percentage of global emissions generated by digital technologies – half of which are generated by manufacturing new devices. 57.4 million tons. That’s the record quantity of waste electrical and electronic equipment, set to be reached in 2021. And yet, as far as mobile phones are concerned, there are an estimated 100 million unused telephones tucked away at the backs of draws in France, and only 15% of the mobile phones sold are actually collected. It is therefore urgent and essential that people be educated if we are to reduce the environmental impact that this tech has – by promoting the circular economy,” Carrefour said in a press release on Thursday.

In this regard, the three companies are anything but beginners. Back Market was a trailblazer, launching its online recycling service back in 2016, enabling people to resell their smartphones and PCs first of all. They then expanded the service to cover a whole range of products – everything from games consoles to cameras –, all of which could be resold via the website. Back Market was the first to notice just how much consumers appreciated this kind of service – a service which has kept growing over the last few years.

In 2020, Carrefour started playing its part in the circular economy by setting up its Carrefour Occasion corners – a service that it ran in partnership with Cash Converter. These recycling operations are a key component of the retailer’s digital strategy and are designed to bolster its omni-channel approach. In line with Carrefour’s commitment to make people’s purchasing power go further in France, the whole purpose of this partnership with Back Market and ecoATM is to expand Carrefour Occasion’s offering with an additional service. ecoATM has more than 13 years of experience in enabling people to trade in their pre-owned smartphones, and has built up a solid reputation. It has been operating in France since 2020, having already successfully established itself in a number of other countries, including the UK and Germany. Its long-term aim is to establish a presence in other countries in which both Carrefour and Back Market operate.

Elodie Perthuisot, the Carrefour Group’s Executive Director of E-Commerce, Data and Digital Transformation, said “With this brand-new partnership, Carrefour is taking yet another step towards the circular economy and is bolstering its commitments to sustainable development. This innovative service is designed to enrich the in-store experience for customers while at the same time boosting their purchasing power.”

Thibaud Hug de Larauze, CEO and co-founder of Back Market said “We are very proud of this excellent partnership with these two companies – once again, we are sending a powerful signal to promote the refurbished device market! By encouraging people to clear out their old smartphones from their drawers so they can bring them to us directly in stores, we are continuing our efforts to raise the general public’s awareness of the impact that tech has on our planet.”

Tom Enraght-Moony, CEO of ecoATM, said “By developing win-win partnerships with major retail companies in France, we will be able to deliver on our aim of becoming one of the key players, enabling people to trade in their old mobile phone as quickly and as straightforwardly as possible. Carrefour customers will get an innovative and efficient experience via our exclusive automated kiosks. In just a few clicks, they’ll be quoted a firm and final price for trading in their mobile phone”.