Environmental Protection at refurbed
Since foundation, we've saved
*Savings compared to new purchases based on the environmental impact data from our ISO 14040/44 verified calculation model. Virtual water consumption is a method that takes into account regional water use in the supply chain.
299,728 t
CO2 saved*
virtual WATER saved*
E-WASTE saved*
983 t
CO2
Our
Vision
(= why we exist): we want to make consumption sustainable. We are aware that current consumption is anything but sustainable. We are committed to helping shape a future in which sustainable consumption is possible.
Our
Mission
(= how we achieve our vision): To build the leading platform for sustainable products and services.
Click through selected chapters of our sustainability report in compact form. For more details, download the Sustainability Report 2023 or find the product footprints (CO2 emissions, electronic waste, virtual water consumption) of thousands of products in our Excel sheet.
The essentials at a glance!
01.
Our why
02.
From linear to circular
03.
Our political engagement
04.
The refurbishment process
05.
Our quality promise
06.
Our environmental strategy
07.
Our calculation model, verified to ISO 14040/44
08.
Our savings explained
09.
Promotion of environmental protection programmes
10.
Our partners
Our why
Our journey began in 2017 with our vision of making consumption sustainable. By extending the lifespan of laptops, smartphones and tablets, we want to make a measurable contribution to protecting the environment. By driving the circular economy, we are reducing the negative impact we have as a society on our planet. Seven years later, we are more than proud to present you with better data, more research and an impact portfolio of environmental protection projects that generate positive effects for people and planet alike.
We would like to take this opportunity to look back on our successes in reducing CO2 emissions, e-waste and water consumption: In the last seven years, we have been able to save 270,000 tonnes of CO2, 94 billion litres of water and 885 tonnes of e-waste compared to new purchases by selling >4.8 million refurbished devices. We have started a transformative movement - and this would not be possible without you: as our customers, friends, refurbishers, partners and community.
01.
02.
From linear to circular
Linear economy
Circular economy
03.
Our political engagement
Our political engagement is based on three pillars: Firstly, in our public affairs efforts, through which we contribute our positions on the circular economy and refurbishment to the legislative process at Austrian, German and EU level. We do this by commenting on the review processes of new laws, through our involvement in working groups such as the Circular Economy Task Force, or through personal dialogue with decision-makers, such as during the visit of Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler to our office.
The second pillar is cooperation with like-minded people. We are a member of several associations in Austria, Germany, Ireland, Sweden and Brussels, which represent the interests of the circular economy. Examples include the European Refurbishment Association EUREFAS, the Right to Repair Campaign, the Circular Economy Forum Austria and the Federal Association for a Sustainable Economy in Germany. We contribute our expertise and our positions here and thus benefit from the greater political weight of the associations, as they can speak with the voice of many like-minded companies.
Sustainability is just as important to many of our customers as it is to us. We are therefore active on political issues via our social media channels, our blog and this Environmental Impact Report and invite our followers to get involved. This is how we create change together!
04.
The refurbishment process
CO2
270,000 t
CO2 saved*
885 t
E-WASTE saved*
94 Bil l
WATER saved*
> 6.6 Mil
TREES planted**
08.
Our savings explained
Between 2018 and 2024, we planted over 6.6 million trees, which we are very proud of. Since Feb 2024, we have been supporting various additional high-impact environmental projects ranging from holistic, nature-based approaches such as landscape restoration to e-waste recycling and innovative CO2 removal from the air.
The extraction and processing of natural resources for the production of electrical appliances requires and pollutes large quantities of water. Refurbishment drastically reduces water consumption.
By extending the life cycle of electronic products, we avoid electronic waste.
Compared to new appliances, refurbishment saves a large proportion of CO2 emissions.
Data erasure
Old data is deleted, the memory space is overwritten and the device is reset to the factory settings.
Device testing
Component replacement
Components are replaced if necessary. Repairs are carried out by experts; individual parts are replaced with parts from the original equipment manufacturer, or equivalent.
Necessary revision
External signs of use (depending on the optical condition) are removed by polishing and cleaning. If necessary, upgrades to the operating system are carried out.
Grading the device
Technical experts or laser machines compare the exterior of the device with our guidelines and standards with regard to optical conditions ("excellent", "very good", "good").
Finally, the device is sold via our marketplace and comes with a 30-day free trial period and a minimum 12-month warranty.
All devices sold via refurbed go through an up to 40-step refurbishment process.
05.
Our quality promise
The quality of our products is our top priority. To minimise the risk for our customers, each product comes with a free 30 day trial and a minimum 12-month warranty.
We pursue a multi-stage quality management approach. Quality assurance and control mechanisms ensure that only suppliers with the best quality products sell on our platform. All refurbed products must pass state-of-the-art software testing, and a refurbishment report records the process and exact condition of each product. Based on ad hoc quality checks and automated alert systems, as well as a detailed assessment of supplier performance, we ensure that product quality meets refurbed standards. Finally, we carry out random quality checks on our suppliers using mystery shopping to uncover potential blind spots.
With this comprehensive quality management system, we ensure that only the best refurbishers sell via our platform.
07.
Our calculation model verified to ISO 14040/44
In our quest for innovation, we once again used the expertise of Fraunhofer Austria in 2023 to create something revolutionary. Our goal was to develop a verified computational model that allows us to measure the environmental impact of thousands of smartphones, tablets and laptops.
And this is how it works: We feed the model with technical data, for example for an iPhone 12: information on storage space (e.g. 64 GB) and other data such as battery and screen size. The calculation model is based on a wealth of knowledge and data, and is verified by an independent third party, namely GutCert in accordance with ISO 14040/44. After entering the technical data, we obtain the following ecological key figures:
- - Savings in CO2, electrical waste and virtual water consumption[1] compared to a new appliance [2].
- - CO2 emissions, electronic waste and virtual water consumption generated in the 2nd life cycle [2].
- - Detailed breakdown of CO2 emissions along the 2nd life cycle for transport, refurbishment, distribution by refurbed and use phase [2].
Discover the environmental impact of thousands of smartphones, tablets and laptops in our Excel sheet:
© Refurbed Marketplace GmbH
EUREFAS
EUREFAS is the association that represents the refurbishment industry in Europe.
Contact
RIGHT TO REPAIR
Right to repair is an alliance of European organisations campaigning for a change in the repair system.
If you have any questions or suggestions around environmental protection, please write to us at
sustainability@refurbed.com
PATCH
Patch is a platform that connects companies from all sectors with the world's most innovative carbon reduction projects.
The myclimate foundation is a leading provider of climate protection financing, awareness-raising and advice.
Minimise's vision is to bring e-waste back into the recycling loop worldwide through partnerships.
MINIMISE
MYCLIMATE
CARBONY
Carbony develops nature-based carbon capture projects in the EU.
RUNNING TIDE
Running Tide, which we work with through Patch, is an innovative company specialising in the storage of CO2 in the sea and the health of the oceans.
TAKE
PRODUCE
DISPOSE
TAKE
PRODUCE
REFURBISH
RECYCLE
REUSE
Novocarbo is one of the leading biochar suppliers in Europe, with whom we co-operate via Patch.
NOVOCARBO
The Dutch social enterprise that we work with via Minimise was founded with the aim of reducing electronic waste.
CLOSING THE LOOP
ETHIOTREES
EthioTrees, in cooperation with myclimate, promotes the increase in income of landless farmers in the northern Ethiopian highlands through the restoration of forests and the development of ecosystem services.
REFOREST NATION
Our partner for Irish tree planting in. Reforest Nation plants over 15 native tree species, creating forests to capture carbon and create habitats for local biodiversity.
EDEN REFORESTATION
Our previous partner for tree planting in various countries in the Global South.
We were founded with the intention of making a positive contribution and reducing the environmental impact of consumption as much as possible. We would like to give you more insights here - and introduce you to the various pillars of sustainability on which we build.
103 Bil l
Der Refurbishment Prozess
Our environmental strategy
06.
09.
Promotion of environmental protection projects
To increase our contribution to environmental protection beyond our core business, we worked with the NGO Eden Reforestation Projects and Reforest Nation to plant a tree for every product sold between from 2018 to 2024. By February 2024, a total of over 6.6 million trees had been planted in social projects around the world! We are very proud of this contribution - especially because we are convinced that trees make a very valuable contribution to climate protection that goes far beyond storing CO2. Nevertheless, we have recognised that planting trees alone is not a silver bullet in supporting our environment. Therefore, whilst we continue to offer to plant a free native Irish tree for consumers with Reforest Nation, we are also investing in an additional portfolio of high-impact environmental projects that will have a long-term impact:
- Landscape restoration: With our partner myclimate, we are restoring ecosystems in Ethiopia, including the planting of trees. The sustainable involvement of local communities plays an important role in this.
- Innovative CO2 removal: We support innovative projects that are crucial but often underfunded. With Patch and Carbony, we support European initiatives to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
- E-waste recycling: Only 20% of electronic waste is properly recycled worldwide. Together with Minimise, we are bringing smartphones from Ghana back into the cycle through local partners and professional recycling in Italy.
- Native Irish tree planting: With our partner Reforest Nation, we continue to offer Irish consumers the option to plant a native Irish tree for free with their purchase. A heavily underforested country, we plant to help regreen the Emerald Isle.
Join us on our journey to a greener future!
Pillar 2: Reducing negative environmental impacts
Once we have quantified our emissions and received insights from our refurbisers, reducing emissions becomes critical.
Extract of our targets in relation to Pillar 2 (reduction):
- Reduction of product emissions through collaboration with refurbishers
- Reduction of refurbed internal emissions (excl. refurbished products)
Pillar 3: Financing environmental protection projects
In addition to measuring environmental impact and defining reduction strategies, financing environmental protection projects is the third pillar of our environmental strategy.
Extract of our goals in relation to pillar 3 (financing):
- Financing of high-quality environmental protection projects:
- Feb 2024: Change in strategy - financing a diversified portfolio of high-quality environmental protection projects.
The exact environmental protection projects can be found in chapter 9.
[1 ] Virtual water consumption is a calculation method that takes into account water use along the supply chain and weights it according to regional availability. It is a virtual value that takes into account the local conditions at the place of water use.
[2 ] The comparison with the respective new products was made on the basis of the manufacturer's specifications, if available. If no comparative data was available, a calculation was made based on the reference product.
As a platform for refurbished electronics, our business model is centred on sustainability. Our efforts do not end here. Our vision is to minimise our negative environmental impact as much as possible.
The foundation of our environmental strategy is based on three core principles, briefly summarised below; more detailed information can be found in our sustainability report.
Pillar 1: Measuring our environmental impact
Measuring our environmental impact along our entire value chain forms the foundation of our environmental strategy. Although, as a platform, we are not obliged under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol to include the products we sell in our carbon footprint, we have decided to do so anyway.
Extract of our goals in relation to pillar 1 (measurement):
- Expand the measurement of our carbon footprint
- Increase the measured environmental impact of products sold through our platform in terms of CO2e, water and e-waste
- Collection of sustainability data from our refurbishers
Detailed information on our ISO 14040/44-verified calculation model can be found in chapter 7.
Download our sustainability report from 2022 now and discover our comprehensive efforts for a sustainable future. You can find the latest report in the previous section. Find out more about our environmental protection measures, social initiatives and partnerships. Click through the report to learn about our achievements, goals and visions.
Sustainability Report 2022
You can find a summary of the development of the calculation model in our sustainability report. If you would like to delve deeper, you can also find reports from Fraunhofer on the development of the methodology and the life cycle assessment of the reference models here.
Below we have listed the average values for each category, weighted by units sold via our platform in 2023.
| Environmental impact | refurbished Smartphones | refurbished Tablets | refurbished Laptops |
| E⌀ CO2 -Emissions in kg | Produced: 12.9 Savings vs new: 83 % (=63.6 kg) | Produced: 19 Savings vs new: 80 % (=82 kg) | Produced: 61 Savings vs new: 83 % (=326 kg) |
| ⌀ Virtual Water-consumption in l | Produced: 3,086.2 Savings vs new: 89 % (=24,335 l) | Produced: 3,755 Savings vs new: 91 % (=37,555 l) | Produced: 13,827 Savings vs new: 85 % (=82,848 l) |
| ⌀ Electronic waste in g | Produced: 43.6 Savings vs new: 77 % (=149.1) | Produced: 21 Savings vs new: 96 % (=489) | Produced: 192 Savings vs new: 89 % (=1,596) |
Technical experts test the device using approved and certified test software to ensure 100% functionality.
10.
B-Corp
In 2017, refurbed was founded to make a positive contribution to the world, reducing the environmental impact of consumption as much as possible.
Today, we are thrilled to announce that refurbed has achieved B Corp Certification, joining a global community of like-minded businesses committed to high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. This achievement
What Is B Corp Certification?
B Corp certification is awarded by B Lab™, a nonprofit organisation that certifies companies based on their social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. Certified B Corporations™ are leaders in the global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy. The "B" stands for Benefit for all, signifying a commitment to positively impact workers, communities, customers, and the planet.
The B Corp movement manifesto states:
- Together, we transform the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet.
- Together, we lead economic systems change that will realise our vision of an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy.
Our Partners