EURONICS INTERNATIONAL Announces Groundbreaking Partnership with EU LIFE Program to Launch the Life EPICS Project

AMSTERDAM, 19 September 2024

On June 5th, 2024, during its Annual General Event in Warsaw, EURONICS INTERNATIONAL GEIE, the leading retail group for Technical Consumer Goods (IT, telecom, consumer electronics, and home appliances) in the EMEA region, proudly announced a new co-financing agreement with the EU LIFE Program emanating from the E.U. Directorate General – C.I.N.E.A. (Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency) for the Life EPICS Project.

The LIFE program, established by the European Union in 1992, is a key funding instrument dedicated to environmental and climate action.

The EPICS (Electronic Products – Impacts on Circular economy and Sustainable development) project is designed to significantly reduce the environmental footprint of electronic products. It focuses on minimizing electronic waste while advancing circular economy practices and sustainable development within the industry.

EURONICS GEIE President Hans Carpels underlined the historic achievement that, EURONICS is the first and only retailer to receive this prestigious grant from the European Commission.

The project is set to commence in September 2024 with a significant budget of several million euros and will span 40 months, concluding in December 2027. Initially, EPICS will focus on six countries—Germany, France, Spain, Austria, Latvia, and Estonia—with plans to expand to other member countries.

John Olsen, C.E.O. of EURONICS International, announced the start of the LIFE EPICS project at the IFA exhibition in Berlin. He discussed with IFA International the 3 main operating pillars of action:

1. 1. Training Activities for Store Managers and Salespeople, with the aim of improving their awareness on sustainable consumption to sell more sustainable products and promote sustainability practices in store management.
   
   
   
2. 2. Repair and ReLIFE, creating specialized corners for the repair and reuse of electrical products, as well as through 3D printing.
   
   
   
3. 3. Development of a Green Sustainability Index for electronic products through an algorithm based on connectivity, repairability, recyclability and energy consumption.

Denis Boschard, C.O.O. of EURONICS International, states that this initiative represents a significant stride toward sustainability, not just for EURONICS but for the entire electronics retail industry.

EURONICS is proud to lead the charge in achieving critical sustainability goals across the sector.