As part of its annual report and accounts for 2023/24, technology retailer Currys has revealed that 1.4 million repairs were carried out and 8.1 million e-waste products were collected across the group for reuse or recycling.
“We see ourselves best placed to lead the way in changing everyone’s relationship with tech and know our customers are looking to reduce their impact on the environment,” says Steve Pendleton, services director at Currys, in an exclusive interview in the DeliveryX Returns 2024 report.
“It’s our job to make that easier, which is why we help customers make more sustainable buying decisions, through best-in class repairs and selling refurbished tech.”
The retailer’s sustainability and social impact strategy has three priorities: circular business models, eradicating digital poverty, and achieving net zero emissions by 2040. Its repair facilities provide it with a unique ability to give tech a longer life, driving outcomes that are good for customers, the environment and its profits.
“We’re witnessing, and encouraging, a normalisation of second-hand shopping when it comes to technology, in the same way everyone has generally embraced second-hand clothes shopping in the fashion industry,” notes Pendleton.
“It’s been a real result for customers who can access high-end devices at cheaper prices, and the environmental wins are self-evident, in the sense we are reusing valuable, mineral-rich devices far more than ever before.”
With 298 stores in the UK&I, Currys offer free instore drop off for all tech and also offer home pick-ups when customers buy new products. These are then sent to its facility in Newark, which hosts Europe’s largest repair centre.
Pendleton adds: “It’s a great facility, half a million square foot of space, 1,000 expert colleagues, all of whom are highly engaged with an average tenure of almost a decade.
“Key to this operation is having colleagues with the technical expertise required to take one product apart in order to harvest valuable components to be used in the refurbishment of another. So, for example, if we receive a unit which is heavily damaged and unrepairable, our experts will still be able to take it apart and harvest the working parts to be used to repair and refurbish another unit from the same product line.”
Read the full interview in the DeliveryX Returns 2024 report.
This report, harnessing ConsumerX research, looks to showcase how the top retailers aren’t leaving returns out of their operational equations, and by handling returns with care are being seen as reliable and sustainable.
It also includes case studies on H&M and Oh Polly.
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