Valorize products at the end of their life

That tired ping-pong racket, that helmet at the end of its life, or that racket that fell victim to a tantrum... It's time. Yes, it's time to offer them the opportunity to reinvent themselves. How? By putting them in an EPR ASL collection bin (that's the technical name). This channel is linked to the AGEC law in France (the law on the fight against waste and the circular economy).

More, concretely, here is the idea: to collect sport and leisure articles (ASL). This collection has several advantages: - avoid having them end their life in the household waste bins. Kilos less waste to be transported to be buried or incinerated... - to allow a recovery of the collected products. Behind "recovery", there are several possible actions, from re-use (if the state of the item allows it) to energy recovery (incineration to make energy) through recycling.

The objective is to have a minimum of final waste (which ends up being incinerated or buried) at the end.

Once collected, these items are then entrusted to eco-organizations which are mandated by the State to organize collection, sorting and the best possible recovery in order to minimize the use of incineration or landfill.

In France, DECATHLON works with a dozen or so channels, each specializing in different types of products (EEE for anything containing an electrical outlet or electronic component), furniture (for cots, air mattresses, etc.), TLC (Textile, Linen and Footwear), batteries, packaging, etc.

Each DECATHLON store becomes a collection point that facilitates the recovery of this type of waste.

Collecting used sporting goods may not sound like much, but recovering the material for reuse is a different story. We can even talk about a technological challenge! Imposing this collection means speeding up knowledge in this area, which is really good news.

For DECATHLON, deepening this knowledge of products is largely facilitated by our history: we are designers (we design the products we sell ourselves), logisticians (we make sure they reach their destination) and retailers (we sell them ourselves). So we know the circuit, the life cycle of our products very well.

It is this knowledge that allows us to imagine, in the long term, large-scale recycling projects. This ambition will first of all require collection, efficient storage and dismantling, in order to manage the massification of waste flows in the best possible way.