Renting -> pieces back -> Circular Economy

Participate
,
1

Hi all,

Thanks a lot for this great idea, movement, product, company… I think is the most developed product I found related to Circular Economy.

What I’m missing here is something very important in Circular Economy and something which I think would make FP quite more used: renting. One of the Circular Economy important topics is the fact of reusing chips, pieces, etc. and an easy way to ensure that those pieces come back to the company is by the fact that the company allways owns the phone. The pieces could be reused or even sold by the company becoming on an extra income and making the phone cheaper. In addition, paying a small monthly fee might be more interesting to some people to start building a Circular Economy with their phones.

Best wishes and good luck!
Miguel Gisbert

2

Welcome to the Fairphone community.

You mean something like;

3 Likes
4

Just available in Netherlands :smiling_face_with_tear: :sob:

5

Did you check the FAQ:

there is a partner for France, Germany, or Belgium.

2 Likes
6

Thanks Incanus but I’m in Spain. BTW 14 € / months on a 60 months subscription is a total of 840 €, much more expensive than just buying the FP4 and I think you still have to pay after those 5 years. A discount if there’s no damage it’s mentioned on the page but not on the terms and conditions. Even with all those discounts I think you’ll be paying 552 € at the end of the 60 monts subscription, still more expensive than the normal price of FP4. And if you need just one repair during that period you’ll loose the discounts I guess…

I’m not sure this is the way to apply a Circular Economy, it looks like a traditional business renting.

7

Of course it is business and not welfare.

4 Likes
8

What I mean is that it looks like a traditional business and not a Circular Economy business

9

Where is the difference? As they are partners of Fairphone, I suppose they are working together somehow.

But anyway. There is a recycle program too, so if you want to get rid of your Fairphone in the future and want to make sure it will be handled correctly you can send it back to Fairphone:

2 Likes
10

You might be looking for something the German company Shiftphones is doing. You pay a refund for each device you buy to ensure they get it back, and they re-buy each device (e.g. when you want to upgrade to later devices).

Thats just another way to call it recycling I my eyes as Fairphone is doing already and they already reuse moduls or sell refurbed devices…

1 Like
11

The difference is that Circular Economy looks for making the most of the products, not only for sustainability purposes but also to make more money with them (selling spare parts, using old chips for a washing machine for example) and that extra money generated by doing things reusable and resellable should make products cheaper not more expensive.

If they are always more expensive people will always look for the cheaper non-sustainable options

12

If this was the case almost nobody would have bought a Fairphone and Fairphone as a company would have ceased to exist long ago.
Perhaps people act differently than you think.

1 Like