RecQ "Quality Refurbishment" label awarded by RCUBE.org and DEKRA

The RECQ label issued by RCube and verified by DEKRA CERTIFICATION is the first European label for reconditioned second-hand products, guaranteeing their quality.

The RECQ label, REConditionnement de Qualité (Quality Reconditioning), is a European certification mark that is registered and legally protected under number 018442159, owned by the RCube.org Federation.

The second-hand market is growing rapidly, but faces the challenge of highly variable product quality, which fuels buyers' concerns about the actual condition of the product and the lack of warranty. The label currently coversquality control for phones, computers, and passenger vehicle tires. It will be extended to other product categories such as toys, bicycles, and household appliances.

The label promotes products and stakeholders that comply with best practices in terms of collection, testing, cleaning, data deletion, repair, and reconditioning for resale, based on the same model as the Organic Agriculture labeling system. By combining regulatory compliance with environmental issues and consumer rules, the RecQ "Reconditionnement de qualité" (Quality Refurbishment) labelpromotes the purchase of high-quality, durable products and provides consumers with transparent information.

In order to address the challenges facing the reconditioning sector, RCube and DEKRA Certification are organizing webinars and conferences on"How to structure a high-quality reuse sector." For example, on April 15 from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The RECQ label: Europe's first quality label dedicated to refurbished products

The "RECQ REConditionné de Qualité" label aims to guarantee, through audits carried out by independent auditors, the quality of second-hand products that are good for the planet and your wallet, reconditioned by professionals. The label currently covers the reconditioning of the following products: phones, computers, passenger vehicle tires, and industrial electrical equipment. It will soon be extended to other categories such as toys, gardening and DIY equipment, bicycles, and household appliances.

Why certify the refurbishment market?

The secondhand market is boomingbut is confronted with a very heterogeneous product quality, which fuels buyers' fears about the actual condition of the product and the lack of a quality guarantee.

The second-hand sector in France has more than 6,500 players who recondition, produce, or sell reconditioned items in stores, online, or via marketplaces.

For example, the Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs, and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) inspected 113 establishments and found violations in nearly 50% of them.

Control and therefore the quality of available products remain very uneven, especially for online sales and via platforms such as marketplaces (more than 1,600 "refurbished sellers" are listed by marketplaces) and classified ad websites. Some of the causes identified include a lack of information on the origin and actual condition of the product, non-compliance with tax regulations (e.g., non-payment of VAT or eco-contribution), and the risk of technical non-compliance (CE marking). In addition to these numerous problems, there is also the misuse of the terms "manufacturer's warranty" and "certification."

The Anti-Waste and Circular Economy Act (AGEC) has addressed the issues surrounding reconditioning by legislating on the conditions for using the term "reconditioned," on consumer information requirements, and by facilitating reuse and extending the life of products.

A demanding approach

Building on these regulatory developments, in order to offer additional guarantees and address the sector's shortcomings, the RCUBE Federation, with the support of DEKRA Certification, has created the "RecQ" label, an acronym for "REConditionnement de Qualité" (Quality Refurbishment), a collective certification mark registered with the European Union.

Inspired by the system established for the Organic Agriculture label (Label AB), the RecQ label promotes products and stakeholders that comply with best practices, particularly in terms of collection, testing, cleaning, data removal, repair, and reconditioning for resale.

By combining the assessment of regulatory compliance with environmental issues and the rules of the Consumer Code, the RecQ "RECONDITIONNMENT DE QUALITÉ" label promotes the purchase of high-quality, durable products and provides consumers with transparent information.

This certification process enables pragmatic action to be taken against the depletion of resources and for the protection of the environment.

What guarantees does the "RECQ" label provide?

The label is based on compliance with a demanding set of specifications, comprising around thirty criteria that supplement the applicable regulations.

A product labeled "RecQ" offers guarantees on:

Performing a comprehensive diagnosis of all the device's features and repairs carried out,
The safety and quality of the reconditioned product,
The conditions for returning the used product that respect the interests of the transferor, including the confidentiality of their data.
Providing clear information on the actual condition of the product, its components, accessories, warranties, and associated after-sales services in order to reassure the consumer.
The specific quality criteria for each product (for example, cell phone batteries must be at least 80% of their performance when new),
A document audit to ensure that candidates comply with tax regulations (payment of VAT in France and no VAT fraud on margins, etc.), environmental regulations (waste management, payment of eco-contributions when importing products, etc.), technical (CE marking of accessories, etc.), parafiscal (payment of private copying levies, etc.) and regulatory compliance.

How to obtain the Label?

The RCUBE association is the entity responsible for managing and administering the label and its standards through a Labeling Commission and its Board of Directors. Candidates submit an application to the certification committee led by RCUBE.org, which is composed of independent experts. They must sign a charter of commitment to responsible reuse and provide administrative evidence to justify the admissibility of their application.

Following this preliminary review, DEKRA Certification, an independent certification and auditing body, carries out an assessment including a physical and technical visit to the reconditioning site, conducted by a qualified auditor, in order to verify the compliance of the applicant and the products with the standards.

Following this audit, any non-compliance issues identified must be corrected within six weeks and the responses must be accepted within this period. A final report will then be drawn up and sent to the applicant and to the certification committee, which will decide by a vote of its independent members on the right to use the label. If the certification committee authorizes it,the operator will be able to use the label for a period of three years, subject to annual assessments.

The label is therefore part of a continuous improvement process. The label, developed by RCube since 2016, helps to strengthen the refurbished market.

The following standards were taken into account in developing the RECQ label criteria:

“Refurbished Mobile Label” and “Recycled Mobile Label” created in 2016 by Rcube with DNV,
Guidelines on social responsibility, NF ISO 26000, 2010-11,
Joint charter for approved eco-organizations and the coordinating body for information and communication, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, Household WEEE, May 25, 2007,
e-Stewards® Standard for Responsible Recycling and Reuse of Electronic Equipment©, review version, review v2.0, November 1, 2013,
Environmental labels: Longtime, R2, EPEAT, TCO certified, etc.
General principles of environmental labeling

The RECQ label does not mean that the technical standard takes into account all the requirements of the standards cited, but that its development has selected requirements from these standards.