Uniting and professionalizing the reuse sector is crucial to enabling its sustainable development.
Our missions
UNITE AND PROFESSIONALIZE
400+ partners and members of RCUBE
Bringing stakeholders together around the table
Network coordination ⇒ more than 400 members and partners who exchange best practices, help each other, and collaborate through committees, working groups, advocacy campaigns, meetings, and events.
Network development in the regions ⇒ Beyond Paris and the Île-de-France region, you can find RCube at our branches in Hauts-de-France (Lille, Béthune, etc.), in western France (Nantes, Angers, Bordeaux, Vannes, Auray, Brest, etc.), in the Lyon region around RCube AURA, and wherever there are members and stakeholders involved in reuse.
The various existing committees:
- Cross-functional committees:
- Public Affairs Committee
- Financing Committee
- Communication and Events Committee
- Certification Commission
- Technical Committee: repair and quality analysis of reconditioned products
- Training Committee
- Traceability Commission
- Thematic committees:
- Batteries and Reuse
- Health and reuse
- Construction and Reuse
- Furnishing Element
- Organic matter and reuse (cat litter)
- Official institutions:
- Certification committee (independence and impartiality)
- CIFREP – 5 members elected by the association and appointed by CIFREP voting resolutions
- CNEC – Members elected by the association and appointed by decree voting at the CNEC
Develop standards for the sector
The example of the RecQ Label: a quality label dedicated to refurbished products initiated by Rcube
💸French consumers are increasingly purchasing secondhand goods. All sectors are affected, with a surge in demand for furniture, smartphones, and clothing.
Nevertheless, it must be noted that not all secondhand products are equal.
In particular, refurbished products, i.e., products that have been checked by professionals to ensure they are in good working order, vary greatly in terms of quality, safety, and compliance with environmental standards.
In May 2020, the Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs, and Fraud Control noted that nearly 50% of professionals were providing consumers with insufficient information, that there were breaches of the provisions of the Consumer Code, particularly with regard to warranties, and that it was difficult for consumers to ascertain the actual condition of the appliance.
🏷️ In light of this, the RCUBE Federation has launched a project to create a quality label dedicated to refurbished products.
The "Quality Refurbishment" label, or RECQ label, meets the current needs of the secondhand market by guiding buyers toward quality secondhand goods from a product, environmental, and social perspective.
Since 2016, the RECQ label has therefore aimed to:
- Educate buyers about the quality and safety of the used goods they are considering purchasing.
- Promote the reuse of products that are still functional but are too often sent to landfill or recycled, ♻️
- Professionalize the reuse sector by defining and maintaining widely accepted quality standards. 👔
Develop and support the ecosystem
🌐 Implementation of a pilot program for reuse, repair, and reconditioning, called ReUSE.LAB ⇒ Unique support to develop your entrepreneurial project in the fields of reuse, repair, and reconditioning.
Objectives
- 🚀 Supporting the creation, development, and acceleration of companies specializing in reuse.
- 🏢 Developing and industrializing the reuse sector
- 📈 Training and supporting the professionalization of project leaders
A selection based on strict criteria...
- ⚡ Quality of innovation
- ♻️ Economic, social, and environmental impact
- 🤝 Entrepreneurial mindset of the founders, motivation
- 💬 Value proposition and pitch
Training and exchange workshop with experts ⇒ support for specific projects and networking with experts.
Assessments and mapping ⇒ conducting audits and assessments to support our members in their development.
STRUCTURE
Represent the sector before committees
| INSTANCES | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| CIFREP
Inter-sector REP Commission |
Appointment by the Prime Minister
Administrative Commission whose secretariat is managed by the DGPR recycling sector management : decrees, specifications, and approvals of eco-organizations |
| CNEC National Council for the Circular Economy |
Appointment by the Minister of the Environment
Representative council of stakeholders for advice and study on the implementation of the Circular Economy in France |
| ADEME Reuse Observatory | Key member of the Steering Committee and member of the Working Groups |
| PRIVATE COPY COMMISSION | Voting member of the Industrial College (1 vote out of 24 votes) |
| CUSTOMS Working Group | Participation in collaborative work between Customs and Professional Federations |
| Working Groups within DGPR (graphic paper, etc.) | Participation in work managed by the Directorate-General for Risk Prevention and Reduction |
| DGE working group on the regulation of marketplaces | Directorate-General for Enterprise to develop a charter of best practices for marketplaces and refurbishers distributing their products online. |
| ACT FOR IMPACT |
Label Act for Impact launched by BNP Paribas to support companies in finding innovative solutions with impact |
DEMOCRATIZE AND RAISE AWARENESS
Organization of major events around reuse
Bulk and Reuse Fair
https://salonduvracetdureemploi.com/
In addition to its international dimension, this sixth edition will welcome the Village du Réemploi (Reuse Village) for the first time, in collaboration with the Rcube federation. Come and discover the players involved in repair, reuse, and recycling.
The Reuse Conference
Organization of a national event open to all for ...
- 🤝 Developing an initial version of the Reuse Master Plan
- Discussing the development prospects for the reuse sector
- List the barriers to reuse
- Identify available and necessary deposits by type of sector
- Bring together stakeholders in the reuse and repair sector and support impact project leaders in their economic development.
- Discuss and propose solutions to develop the reuse and repair sector
- 🔎Define the sector's key concepts (terminology, cosmology, etc.) – via a Scientific Congress: publication of papers, presentation of ongoing studies
- 👥 Raise awareness and train stakeholders on issues in the sector (consumers, students, teachers, researchers, buyers, legislators, firms, suppliers)
- 💬 Present the regulatory texts (currently being drafted) and discuss the terms and conditions for implementation in the EPR sectors.
- 📖 Update the White Paper with legislative proposals
- 🤖Present innovations and proposals by sector: entrepreneur pitches
- ⚙️ Organization and presentation of technical workshops to discover the various training courses available
- 💡Exhibition space for innovations, presentation of stakeholders
- 💻
Networking Area
Podcast production
Development of a podcast series featuring reuse companies.
Objectives:
- Promoting Reuse Companies
- Inspire and Raise Awareness
- Community Commitment
- Visibility
Would you like to be interviewed for an episode? Contact us!
The RECQ Label: Quality Refurbishment
The RECQ label carried by RCUBE.org is the first European label for secondhand products that guarantees their quality.
The label is based on a set of specifications that must be met by professionals involved in collection, reconditioning, and distribution.
These specifications are the result of consultation with all stakeholders in the reuse sector, whether or not they are members of RCUBE.
The label applies to a very wide range of products. It currently covers computers (laptops and desktops), smartphones, passenger car tires, and large industrial equipment. In 2024/2025, changes are planned to cover other product categories, such as bicycles, household appliances, DIY items, and toys.
Why this label? In 2019, the French Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs, and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) inspected 113 establishments and found violations in nearly 50% of them.
This standard offers guarantees that go well beyond regulatory requirements: traceabilityin the reconditioning process, providing transparency on the actual condition of the product and the operations carried out; compliance with the waste treatment hierarchy; a technical warranty that is at least as long as that required by regulation; the existence of an after-sales service; product compliance via CE marking; and compliance with various regulations (taxation, consumer code, AGEC law, etc.).
Depending on the product, additional specific criteria apply. For computers and mobile phones, for example, the robustness of the data erasure process and the condition of critical parts (memory card, battery) are assessed against thresholds that must be met.
More than 20 structures have been certified and numerous applications are currently being processed in France and Europe.
Compliance with the specifications is assessed by an external certification body. DekraCertification, which contributed to the project, has been commissioned for a period of three years to carry out these assessments. More information is available on the DEKRA website.