The circular economy is an essential component for driving societal change. It targets both consumer products and corporate infrastructure. As part of our commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2040, our new OSCAR program places the circular economy at the heart of our infrastructure procurement policy. Reusing existing equipment or using more reconditioned equipment where possible enables us to reduce our CO2 emissions by limiting the manufacturing impacts of new equipment.
At Orange, we believe in the potential of digital technology as a tool to promote the energy transition and fight against global warming. We also know we must reduce our own CO2 emissions. That’s why, as part of our commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040 (10 years earlier than the objectives set by the rest of the telecoms sector), we’re proactively improving network efficiency, increasing our use of renewable energy and integrating the circular economy across our business.
OSCAR, our circular economy program
Our circular economy targets mean ensuring Orange branded products are eco-designed and unwanted mobile devices are collected back. But our commitment is also aimed at our core business: by 2025 our IT infrastructure, networks and data centers will all operate using more reconditioned equipment.
In concrete terms, our OSCAR program includes the launch of the “Marketis” platform for buying and selling reconditioned equipment. This internal marketplace enables our procurement teams to choose between new and reconditioned equipment.
This means the OSCAR platform guarantees the technical quality and innovation of our network equipment while limiting the manufacturing of new equipment. Under our network sharing agreements, Orange Spain and Orange Belgium will be able to resell the equipment they dismantle via our online platform so that it can find a second life in our other operating countries. By generating significant savings of tens of million euros each year while further reducing our CO2 emissions, OSCAR reflects our desire to combine environmental best practice with sustainable and responsible value creation.
Elizabeth Tchoungui, Executive Vice President of Group Corporate Social Responsibility, Béatrice Felder, CEO of BuyIn and Ramon Fernandez, introduce the ambitions of our circular economy program in more detail:
