The rise of the circular economy is pushing manufacturers and distributors to rethink their model. Among the most promising levers: refurbished devices. Yet one blind spot has persisted until now: how to reliably measure the impact and carbon footprint of a piece of second-hand equipment? This is precisely the challenge taken up by Rexel France and five partners, including Qweeko, with the publication of a white paper presented at the ChangeNow trade show in Paris in March 2026.
Why is the carbon footprint of refurbished equipment so hard to measure?
A refurbished device is not a new product. Its life cycle is different, and so is its environmental impact. The manufacturing and energy-consumption phases of a piece of electronic equipment are the stages with the greatest impact in terms of CO₂-equivalent emissions. Yet, unlike new products that have documented Product Environmental Profiles (PEPs), refurbished devices had no standardised method to quantify their carbon footprint.
The RE2020 only mentions refurbishment between the lines, limiting itself to stating that replaced parts must be taken into account. An insufficient framework to concretely showcase the environmental benefits of a model based on the second life of equipment.
A streamlined calculation method, based on life cycle assessment
The white paper proposes a structured approach built around life cycle assessment (LCA). The method relies on data from the Inies database and the methodology of the PEP Écopassport programme to assign an average carbon value to each refurbished device in CO₂ equivalent, according to three levels of refurbishment:
- Level 1 — Testing and return to service: repairs without part replacement
- Level 2 — Minor repairs with replacement of secondary parts (connections, structures)
- Level 3 — Replacement of major components (batteries, motors, electronics)
In the absence of a verified PEP, the study provides for the use of default environmental data (DED) published by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition. A pragmatic approach that makes it possible to quickly recalculate the carbon benefit induced by refurbishment, without waiting for a full LCA.
Qweeko's role: automating LCA to make it accessible
In this consortium bringing together Eaton, Schneider Electric, Ecosystem and Terraquota, Qweeko contributed its expertise in automating Life Cycle Assessment. Because a method, however rigorous, will only be adopted at an industrial scale if it is practicable without heavy specialised resources.
Our platform enables manufacturers and distributors to automate the collection and processing of the environmental data needed to calculate the carbon footprint of each device. Concretely, this means being able to measure the environmental impact of a piece of refurbished equipment by drawing on the PEP of the original new product, part by part if necessary — and to produce reliable environmental declarations, based on a rigorous study, quickly and without friction.
Refurbish, yes — but prove it with figures
The circular economy can only scale up industrially with sustainably reliable and comparable data. Refurbishing an electronic device significantly reduces its resource consumption, its emissions, its environmental impact and its carbon footprint compared with manufacturing a new product, but this still needs to be demonstrated with a solid study.
This is precisely what this method enables: giving industry players a concrete way to showcase their approach, whether to meet public tender requirements, convince their key accounts, or feed their extra-financial reporting.
What this concretely changes for manufacturers
For a manufacturer, this approach opens a clear path: calculating and documenting the carbon footprint of each refurbished piece of equipment without waiting for a full LCA, by drawing on a reference study and a recognised calculation model. The data produced is intended to be hosted on Fab.Dis, the unified data-exchange reference between manufacturers and distributors.
An official method published by the PEP Écopassport programme is also expected for June 2026, making these environmental-impact declarations eligible for the ISO 14025 standard — and therefore fully usable in tenders, CSR initiatives and commitments towards the circular economy.
Would you like to automate the life cycle assessment of your products and showcase the carbon footprint of your refurbished range? Contact our team.