Resource-saving services
As Europe's largest retailer of consumer electronics, we want to play a leading role in the circular economy. Our service offerings are already making an important contribution to conserving scarce resources such as cobalt, lithium and rare earths - by extending the service life of products and ensuring that they are recycled properly.
Repairing instead of throwing away
Repairs play an important role in the circular economy: they enable products to be used for longer. That's why we offer a comprehensive repair service. Customers can hand in broken devices or devices in need of maintenance at any of our stores. At our Smartbars, we repair smartphones or provide suitable spare parts - many devices can be taken back after a short time. Our After Sales Service coordinates repairs with our own workshops, the manufacturer's workshops and selected repair service providers.
In the 2023/24 financial yearwe repaired three million appliances, of which around 2.75 million were repaired via the After Sales Service and 250,000 at the Smartbars. This saved 9,444 tonnes of electronic waste because products were and not disposed of.
Purchase
We are legally obliged to take back old appliances. We go one step further with our purchase service: customers can exchange used appliances for a gift card. Functional products are professionally refurbished and reused. Appliances that can no longer be used are professionally recycled - valuable raw materials such as rare earths and precious metals are recovered and reused.
Our target by the 2025/26 financial year: 600,000 devices purchased
Since the 2022/23 financial year, our purchase service has been available in all national companies - both online and in our stores. The range currently includes smartphones, mobile phones, tablets, smartwatches, PCs and laptops, cameras, lenses and games consoles. In the 2023/24 financial year, we purchased over 424,000 devices across the Group. Over 80 per cent of these were refurbished and reused.
Old appliances and recycling
Waste electrical and electronic equipment contains valuable resources that can be recovered and reused through recycling. At the same time, they contain harmful substances that must not be released into the environment. Our customers can hand in their old electrical appliances at all our stores. When purchasing a new large appliance, we take the old appliance with us directly on delivery. The subsequent recycling and disposal is carried out professionally and in accordance with legal requirements. You can find out more at here.
