Products end-of-life

For Groupe SEB, protecting the environment is not limited to production sites, although all of them are involved in an environmental certification process, or to transport. It is part of every stage in a product’s life, including end-of-life processing.

Repairing products instead of throwing them away

Repairing a product generates less waste than throwing it out and buying a new one. That’s why Groupe SEB makes sure its electrical products and pressure cookers are repairable. That means being able to easily take the appliance apart and find spare parts for it. Over 80% of all the products designed in 2010 are repairable. The instructions leaflets include a list of Groupe SEB authorised customer service centres. 

The days of tossing old household appliances in the family dustbin are over! A change in attitude is necessary today. Recycling items that have reached the end of their useful lives is our priority. We have already surpassed our goals, which are patterned on the  the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment European directive (WEEE directive) of 13 August 2005 (50% recyclable and 20% or more re-usable), since in 2010, the potential recyclability index of our new products on the market is superior to 70%.

Collecting for better processing

A recyclable product is good, but a recycled product is better!
In France, Groupe SEB played a leading role in 2006 in creating Eco-Systèmes, a government authorised eco-organization (the authorisation was renewed at the end of 2009 for a period of 5 years) which handles almost ¾ of the electrical and electronic waste in France, including small domestic appliance waste. Groupe SEB has chaired the agency since it began and has a second representative on the board of directors. Financing for existing products is provided by a transparent consumer contribution towards the initial price of products sold, until 2011 within the framework of the WEEE directive.

Improving the collection of small appliances

In France, in 2010, Eco-Systèmes collected 311,000 tonnes of products that have reached the end of their useful lives, 25 million of used equipment. The eco-organization has made considerable efforts to increase the collection of small appliances, particularly electrical appliances, by means of general public advertising and actions taken directly with the stores, in order to optimise collection points.

In addition to the collection and processing of waste, Eco-Systèmes supports research programmes on eco-design, waste recovery and recycling.

In France, Eco-Systèmes has implemented a proactive policy of creating partnerships with players in the charity economy, in particular ENVIE and Emmaüs: social integration companies who work with Eco-Systèmes have no fewer than 3,000 employees, representing 35% of the collection market and 15% of the processing market (by tonnage). Thanks to them, in 2010, 120,000 appliances were sold after renovation.