﻿ Envie : E-waste recycling company that employs people from disadvantaged backgrounds | Imagination For People


E-waste recycling company that employs people from disadvantaged backgrounds


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Web http://www.envie.org/


About the project Edit

Envie is an organisation operating in the field of management of electric and electronic waste. However, Envie has developed a singular approach to business by integrating a strong social dimension to its work. In addition to its business activities in the field of waste management, Envie is also a social project aimed at integrating the long-term unemployed and other vulnerable groups into the labour market. As a result, this organisation has developed a highly innovative approach by blending an environmental and a social dimension into its business model.

In what ways is this project unique and creative? Edit

The company combines recycling of an every growing and difficult-to-recycle product with providing training and employment opportunities to those who have a difficult time obtaining work.

What is the social value of this project? Edit

Reducing the amount of electronic waste that ends up in landfills. Electronics leak toxic chemicals into soils and can contaminate groundwater. Proper recycling not only reduces the new material that needs to be mined but also reduces the contaminants that end up in the earth.


This project could be implemented anywhere

What was the triggering factor of this project? Edit

The reasons having led to the creation and growth of such an organisation are two-fold. Firstly, there has been a considerable growth in the market for electric and electronic device waste treatment as a result of enhanced waste management regulation. For example, Envie has developed significant know how on cooling device decontamination, which became obligatory after the introduction of a European directive in 2002. Secondly, there is also a growing need to develop alternative methods to reduce unemployment an increase introduction to the labour market.

Sustainability effects

In 2006, Envie collected 800 000 used electronic devices out of which 65 000 were renovated and resold. Envie's activities allowed it to hire a total of 1 400 employees, including 800 full-time integration positions, and 270 permanent positions. Approximately 60% of people taken in by Envie gain access to a job or training upon completion of their integration period, and 87% acquire new professional skills.

What is the business model of this project? Edit


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