Minimising the production of waste, extending the life of electronic devices, reusing recovered materials... By implementing reasoned and responsible resource management, POST aims to be part of the circular economy.
Reducing, reusing, recycling
“The best waste is the waste we don’t produce”. The first hurdle in waste management is limiting the production of waste as much as possible.
For the waste that is unavoidable, the aim is to make it easier to process the residual amount. This also involves rigorous sorting to ensure that each component enters a recycling chain so that it can be reused. To put its commitments on a formal footing, POST is implementing a new governance structure aimed at establishing centralised waste management and anticipating new regulations in this area.
Nearly 60 POST sites have been awarded the SuperDrecksKëscht label, an organisation that promotes waste management in accordance with the ISO 14024:2000 standard for environmental management.
Minimising the production of electronic waste
As a telecom operator and ICT service provider, POST sells and rents out a significant number of electronic devices. A wide range of materials are used in the manufacture of this equipment, in ever-growing amounts as society becomes increasingly digital. The extraction of certain metals needed to manufacture smartphones, tablets, TV decoders, computers and computer servers generates significant CO2 emissions, contributing to the depletion of natural resources. What is more, the disposal of these electronic components at the end of their life poses problems in terms of waste management.
Extending the life of devices
Keeping in mind the environmental impact of the production and recycling of this equipment, the Group has taken a number of initiatives that go beyond its legal obligation to recover appliances. The goal is to extend the life cycle of mobile terminals, promote their reconditioning and encourage their reuse.
Making the recovery of old smartphones easier
One approach is the Mobile Bag project, through which POST has set up a collection system for old smartphones. Customers are encouraged to return their old phones to an Espace POST or hand them to their postal worker.
The Mobile Bag containing the phones is then sent to SOLINA Aarbechtshëllef ASBL. This association sorts and dismantles the devices for recycling or gives those that are still functional to Digital Inclusion so that they can be reused by people in need.
Repairing rather than replacing
POST has become the first European telecoms operator to obtain permission from Apple to repair iPhones in-house, without using certified subcontractors.
“Since our technicians have been carrying out repairs directly, the average time taken to repair a phone has been halved, and the customer's bill reduced by an average of 13%,” explained Christophe Lentz, Head of After-Sales Service.
In 2023, more than 1,500 iPhones were repaired in-house.”
Promoting repairable equipment
In 2023, POST began publishing a repairability index in its catalogue to inform consumers about the repairability of smartphones and to guide them towards using their devices for as long as possible.
Dismantling equipment to recycle the components
Since 2022, the Ligue HMC has been dismantling and sorting various items of electrical and electronic equipment in order to recycle the materials and make it easier to reuse their components. A team of six people and a supervisor from the Ligue HMC are based at our Cloche d’Or site, in the POST Technologies waste sorting area.
“At the end of this disassembly work, the various components can then be recycled and used, in particular to manufacture new electronic components. From a circular economy perspective, this reduces the pressure on natural resources. The Ligue HMC also refurbishes our decoders and reinstalls them at customers’ premises," explained Claude Boden, Head of Service Logistics at POST Luxembourg
In the longer term, POST is committed to reviewing its marketing model, which is mainly based on the sale of new equipment and its replacement at the end of its useful life, by integrating the principles of circularity.
