Refurbishers appliance businesses said that they have seen a surge in business since the coronavirus outbreak.

The boom in sales is credited to expanded use due to stay-at-home orders, additional money from stimulus checks and people working on home projects.

The amateur baker has saved the flour industry, right. People are using appliances a lot and that causes thing that are getting old to break, but I think a lot of it is, ‘My oven doesn’t bake cookies. Let’s get on the internet and see what we want,

Strong business combined with factory delays means it is hard for appliance businesses to meet the demand.

A lot of stuff is on backorder. Ovens aren’t available for another month and other appliances we’re having a tough time getting. It’s not just new appliances that people are buying. sales of refurbished appliances doubled in April.

Covid-19 could boost the concept of the circular economy for electrical products, as consumers reconsider what they really need to own, while companies producing or relying on electrical products investigate ways to avoid disrupted supply chains. “When you get these global shocks, it does make people question the resilience of supply chains, and makes us think about systems, which is fundamentally what the circular economy is about,” says Joe Iles, circular design programme lead for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Giving people a good experience when buying secondhand or refurbished products is crucial to compete in the market.

This means that appliance companies and manufacturer must to change their mentality. Refurbishment is not an internal conflict, not cannibalize nothing, rather, it's an opportunity, a saving costs activity, contribute to get up the brand, a customer super-service ( are you looking for an oven and is not available? Buy our refurbished ..... ) basically, the deal of the year.

let's talk about it

mik

During pandemy, on 11 March, the EU commission released its new Circular Economy Action Plan outlining a set of initiatives aimed to establish a sustainable framework for products, services and business models and make products easier to reuse, repair and recycle.

This unprecedented economic status provides the EU with the opportunity to go even further, and accelerate the shift to a circular economy, which means more opportunities for Reverse Logistics,Repair and Refurbishment Services.

Chapter 3.1 of Circular Economy Action Plans says :

"Electrical and electronic equipment continues to be one of the fastest growing waste streams in the EU, with current annual growth rates of 2%.

It is estimated that less than 40% of electronic waste is recycled in the EU20. Value is lost when fully or partially functional products are discarded because they are not reparable, the battery cannot be replaced, the software is no longer supported, or materials incorporated in devices are not recovered.
About two in three Europeans would like to keep using their current digital devices for longer, provided performance is not significantly affected21.
To address these challenges, the Commission will present a ‘Circular Electronics Initiative’ mobilising existing and new instruments. In line with the new sustainable products policy framework, this initiative will
promote longer product lifetimes and include, among others, the following actions:

• regulatory measures for electronics and ICT including mobile phones, tablets and laptops under the Ecodesign Directive so that devices are designed for energy efficiency and durability, reliability, upgradability, maintenance, reuse and recycling. The upcoming Ecodesign Working Plan will set out further details on this. Printers and consumables such as cartridges will also be covered unless the sector reaches an ambitious voluntary agreement within the next six months;
• focus on electronics and ICT as a priority sector for implementing the ‘right to repair’, including a right to update obsolete software;
• regulatory measures on chargers for mobile phones and similar devices, including the introduction of a common charger, improving the durability of charging cables, and incentives to decouple the purchase of chargers from the purchase of new devices;
• improving the collection and treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment including by exploring options for an EU-wide take back scheme to return or sell back old mobile phones, tablets and chargers"

Simply because second-hand market value in Italy , i mean, reselling, reusing, and recycling objects is gaining ground and today is worth 23 billion euros, i.e, 1.3 percent of GDP, with a 28 percent growth over the last seven years. 

According to market research firm Doxa, which recently conducted a study for Subito—the leading digital platform in Italy that automates trade of used items for 11 million unique monthly users—18 million objects found a new home through their platform. Leggi tutto