Decathlon and Intersport are setting up bins in their stores in which customers can deposit used sporting goods (textiles excluded), for recycling or other secondary use, according to the French financial paper Les Echos. Both retailers have joined the network of a non-profit organization called Ecologic, and their full system of bins should be up and running by next year. At present, they have about 15 altogether.
Decathlon has some wrinkles to iron out. According to its head of sustainable development, Vianney Burucoa, the trouble is finding room for the bins, explaining to customers how they should sort items and corralling the collected materials at logistical hubs. Intersport is facing similar problems. According to its head of corporate social responsibility, Gilles Bouquet, the company is conducting tests with members to place the bins to good effect within store decor.
The French state recognizes Ecologic for its public utility in collecting, sorting and valuing electronics, sporting goods, and home-repair and thermal garden products. Its partnership with Decathlon and Intersport falls under what the French government calls Expanded Producer Responsibility (Responsabilité Élargie des Producteurs, or REP). Founded in 2005, Ecologic says that by 2016 it had collected 162,000 tons of waste for 1,784 member producers, set up about 2,500 collection points in France, and operated with 141 waste-treatment and recycling companies.
