Reconciling solidarity and ecology

In the 1980s, a social worker set up a partnership with Emmaus Strasbourg and Darty. The aim was to offer the young people in his care the opportunity to refurbish used household appliances that Darty supplied and that a new association called Envie put up for sale. Within the framework of integration contracts, these young people can thus gain access to employment and training while giving a new life to appliances sold under warranty. Following the success of this experiment, the founders spread it to Marseille and other large french cities. A network was gradually formed, bringing together some fifty entities under the banner of the Fédération Envie. The creation of Extended Producer Responsibility channels and éco-organismes (ecologic organisations) gave Envie access to the logistics of electrical and electronic waste. This also gave a new impetus to the development of the network, which now employs 3,000 people, 2,300 of whom are in work integration. The new french law on the circular economy will provide opportunities for this development.