Refurbished goods and the planet – how do they fit together?

‍

Cheaper than new ones, refurbished electronic products make a significant difference to our household budgets. We now also have scientific evidence that they help to protect our planet.

‍

It’s official: refurbished tech helps protect the planet.

At URBAK, a company based in Switzerland, in Geneva and Lausanne, specialising in the purchase, resale and repair of electronic devices, we had a hunch that refurbished devices might be better for the environment than new ones. However, this hunch needed concrete evidence.

To this end, ADEME (the French Environment and Energy Management Agency) carried out an independent study into the environmental impact of refurbished products. It was crucial to obtain accurate figures, not only for us, but also for all global players in this industry. ADEME therefore launched the first large-scale study into the environmental impact of refurbished products.

ADEME began its research in 2020 and, in January 2022, published preliminary data showing that refurbished smartphones have a significantly lower environmental impact than new devices. The full ADEME report, now available, provides an overview of the global impact of refurbished products, particularly computers, tablets, desktop computers and smartphones. However, this study excludes monitors, keyboards and mice.

Methodology

‍

The ADEME’s 2022 report uses the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. This method assesses the environmental impact of a product, process or service by taking into account all stages of its life cycle. It is therefore considered a comprehensive approach. In this case, the LCA methodology was applied to laptops, desktop computers, smartphones and tablets to assess the entire supply chain, from new to refurbished.

Factors assessed for new devices:

• Raw materials and their extraction
• Component manufacturing
• Inbound transport
• The manufacturing process
• Production of packaging and accessories
• Distribution
• Usage
• End-of-life disposal (incineration or landfill)

Factors assessed for refurbished devices:

• Collection of used devices
• Manufacture of spare parts
• The disposal of used spare parts
• Production of packaging and accessories
• Delivery

All these factors have been assessed on a global scale, making this data valid worldwide.

Key environmental performance indicators

To measure the environmental impact of refurbished devices (and the manufacture of new devices), the ADEME report takes into account a number of key performance indicators. In particular, it considers the following four types of environmental impact:

• Carbon footprint
• Raw materials (from metals extracted from the earth to fossil fuels burnt during the extraction process)
• Water consumption
• The generation of electronic waste

Usage scenarios

The impact of refurbished devices also depends on how long the device was used during its ‘first life’ (i.e. before it was refurbished) and the estimated duration of its new life (after it has been refurbished). We refer to these as device usage scenarios.

Generally, the usage scenario assumes that the refurbished product was first purchased new, used for a certain period, refurbished, and then reused for a further period. The study also assumed the following averages:

• Smartphones and tablets : 3 years’ use as a new device + 2 years’ use as a refurbished device
• Computers (laptops and desktops) : 5 years’ use as a new device + 3 years’ use as a refurbished device

Please note that these are ‘conservative’ usage scenarios designed to avoid overestimating the environmental benefits of refurbishment.

Repair scenarios

A device’s environmental impact also depends on where it is bought, repaired and sold. For example, it is rare for a device to be bought, repaired and sold within the same country. The report considered three scenarios, ranging from the ‘worst’ to the ‘best’ in terms of environmental impact:

• Non-optimised scenario : a device is purchased in one country, refurbished in another and sold in a third, with a large number of parts replaced.
• Reasonable scenario : a device is purchased, refurbished and sold in two different countries, with an average number of parts replaced.
• Best-case scenario : a device is purchased, refurbished and sold within the same country, with a low or moderate number of parts replaced.

‍