Desks waiting in a warehouse, computers that are still usable, a local authority replacing its equipment: on paper, the match seems obvious. In practice, goods must be collected, sorted, repaired, stored, delivered and covered by warranties. Public procurement can give socially inclusive reuse what it often lacks: predictable demand. But contracts must be accessible and products available. Looking ahead to September 2026, the challenge therefore goes beyond greener purchasing: it is about building a sector capable of delivering on its environmental and social promises. This analysis draws on developments known up to 2025; the outlook for 2026 remains forward-looking.
AGEC: a structured market, not a guaranteed order book
France’s anti-waste law for a circular economy, known as AGEC, adopted in 2020, established a key principle: certain purchases by central government, local authorities and their joint bodies must include goods sourced through reuse, prepared for reuse or containing recycled materials. The framework under Article 58, subsequently clarified and revised through regulations, covers categories including furniture and IT equipment.
The decree of 21 February 2024 revised the categories and introduced progressively higher targets. The applicable proportions vary by product and deadline; they are assessed against the relevant annual expenditure, not necessarily contract by contract. For buyers, the first task is therefore to identify the correct scope and track their spending. Buying a few second-hand chairs is not enough to demonstrate a coherent policy.
One distinction is essential: a new product containing recycled material is not a reused product. Targets that distinguish between these approaches give second-life goods a clearer place. But this opening does not automatically reserve orders for non-profit organisations, work-integration enterprises or other social and solidarity economy organisations. They still face commercial operators that are sometimes better equipped to bid.
Furniture: easy to understand, demanding to organise
Imagine a joint local authority reorganising its offices. It needs desks, storage units and chairs. A local organisation happens to collect furniture when companies move premises. The arrangement seems ideal: extending the life of existing goods while supporting jobs that help people enter or return to the workforce. But quantities, dimensions and schedules rarely align without preparation.
Furniture is expensive to move and takes up space. A sturdy table may remain unsold because no storage is available or delivery costs too much. Batches are often mixed. Chairs require particular attention to their mechanisms, stability and ergonomics. A buyer demanding a single finish and an identical model for every workstation risks excluding reuse before bids are even opened.
The key is to describe requirements differently: compatible dimensions, durability, comfort, expected condition and repairability. Consistency in use can replace absolute uniformity. Reusing furniture already owned by the local authority, supported by a refurbishment service, also deserves consideration before any purchase. However, this option does not necessarily count towards regulatory targets in the same way as acquiring goods.
IT: trust is built in the workshop
A computer’s appearance tells buyers little. They need to know its specifications, battery condition, the tests performed, warranty terms and spare-parts availability. They also need a reliable data-erasure process and traceability throughout the work. Refurbishment involves more than cleaning a machine and switching it back on.
The end of standard support for Windows 10, set for 14 October 2025, illustrates a major challenge: a working machine can become vulnerable because of its software environment. Windows 11’s hardware requirements restrict some upgrades. Alternatives exist, but they must be compatible with the administration’s specialist software, security requirements and support capabilities. For 2026, it would therefore be unwise to assume that every recovered computer is ready for immediate redeployment.
Socially oriented organisations can differentiate themselves through a comprehensive service: assessing needs, preparing workstations, installation, maintenance and take-back. Moving up the value chain, however, requires trained technicians, documented procedures and sufficient working capital. The purchase price alone does not capture the value of the service, or the cost of a breakdown that leaves a public employee unable to work.
The real bottleneck: reliable flows before large volumes
A public contract can improve predictability, but it can also put a small organisation under strain. Delivering several dozen matching items by a fixed date requires buying or reserving stock, allocating workshop capacity and arranging transport before payment is received. A framework agreement with no minimum purchase commitment creates a business opportunity; it does not guarantee enough work to support hiring.
Upstream, the quality of collected goods is decisive. The most usable batches help fund some of the sorting and processing of other products. If socially oriented organisations receive only badly degraded equipment, the financial balance becomes harder to maintain. Regular partnerships with businesses and public bodies can improve predictability. Donations and transfers of publicly owned goods nevertheless remain subject to rules: they cannot be improvised during an office move.
Cooperation offers one way forward: pooling warehouse space, sharing some sales functions or forming a consortium to bid for a contract. It brings together volumes and complementary skills. But coordination itself has a cost. It cannot sustainably depend on invisible administrative work or volunteer commitment.
Accessible contracts, without disguised local preference
Buyers have practical tools at their disposal, to be used in accordance with equal-treatment rules. Preliminary market consultation helps them understand available capacity without favouring any bidder. Dividing contracts into lots can separate furniture, IT, maintenance or delivery areas. Realistic deadlines and proportionate requirements avoid effectively restricting competition to the largest operators.
- Specify performance requirements rather than insist on particular new-product models.
- Assess operating costs, repairability and warranties using verifiable criteria.
- Provide visibility on needs and, where justified, include purchase commitments.
- Use appropriate social procurement tools, including reserved contracts where the legal conditions are met.
A reserved contract is not a blanket preference for every organisation carrying the social and solidarity economy label. Each mechanism has its own eligible beneficiaries and conditions. Similarly, being locally based cannot serve as a discriminatory criterion. Justified requirements for delivery, maintenance and environmental performance can, however, recognise the value of a well-organised service without treating proximity as an automatic virtue.
What next? For September 2026 and beyond, a favourable scenario would see buyers move from one-off initiatives to multi-year programmes combining internal reuse, acquisitions and maintenance. Useful indicators would then include the equipment actually returned to service, its additional useful life and the quality of pathways into employment. The law opens the door; regular collections, well-equipped workshops and sustainable contracts will enable socially inclusive reuse to step through it.
