Environmental Protection at refurbed

Since foundation, we've saved

*Savings compared to new purchases based on research of the environmental impact by Fraunhofer Austria.

178,000 t

CO2*

38 Bil l

WATER*

E-WASTE*

556 t

CO2

refurbed Impact Report

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 refurbed's environmental impact in an easily digestible form. For more details, download the refurbed environmental impact report or dive into the scientific background on the environmental impact of our top sellers in the Fraunhofer report.

The essentials at a glance!

01.

Ecological sustainability at refurbed

Read more >

02.

From linear to circular

Read more >

03.

Our political engagement

Read more >

04.

We have measured what is important

Read more >

05.

Our savings explained

Read more >

06.

How our savings are calculated compared to new purchases

Read more >

07.

The refurbishment process 

Read more >

08.

Our quality control

Read more >

09.

Promotion of environmental protection projects

Read more >

10.

Our partners

Read more >

Ecological sustainability at refurbed

The idea for refurbed was born in 2017 in our founder Peter's flat in Vienna - with the aim of founding a company that would make a significant contribution to changing our consumer behaviour by refurbishing mobile phones, laptops and tablets.

Our linear economic system leads to numerous ecological problems such as accelerating climate change, loss of biodiversity and depletion of natural resources.

Typical of the linear economy, which is the basis of our current economic system, is the principle of "take, produce, dispose", i.e. valuable resources are thrown away as waste and the full lifespan of products is not utilised. With our business model based on the circular economy, we offer a more sustainable alternative to buying new products. Together with our retailers and customers, we want to make refurbished the new normal by extending the useful life of products.

As Ireland's leading marketplace for refurbished products, and the fastest growing of such in the DACH region, we also want to strengthen the refurbishment movement and raise awareness among regulators and companies.

01.

02.

From linear to circular

Linear economy

Kreislaufwirtschaft

03.

Our political engagement

We want to use our reach and expertise to further strengthen the refurbishment movement and raise awareness among consumers, regulators and other companies.

 We believe that every company has a political and social responsibility in addition to its economic role. That is why we are a member of various organisations such as EUREFAS, the European Refurbishment Association, and the Right to Repair Campaign, in order to strengthen sustainable regulations at local and EU level.

Among other things, we campaign for a comprehensive and inclusive right to repair and for ambitious eco-design requirements, i.e. for the design of durable and easily repairable products.

Our goal is to facilitate second-hand consumption for consumers and thus enable the transition to a circular economy.


04.

We have measured what is important

In order to better understand our environmental impact, we have worked together with the Fraunhofer Austria research institute. Our goal: to obtain comprehensible, transparent environmental impacts based on scientific methods for our most popular reference products. Fraunhofer Austria created a scientifically validated calculation model to allocate all emissions at product level and collected data from six suppliers and from databases such as Ecoinvent. The results of the calculations of the partial product footprint were compared with environmental data of the respective new appliances in order to make quantitative statements about the savings.

According to the results of the study, the purchase of refurbished smartphones, tablets and laptops instead of new devices reduces:

- between 69 and 91% of CO2 emissions, with an average of 80%,
- between 60 and 93% e-waste, with an average of 73%; and
- between 86 and 97 % water, with an average of 90 %.

The graph on the right shows the savings made by buying a refurbished iPhone 11 compared to a new device.


Apple iPhone 11

Environmental savings: refurbished vs. new iPhone 11*

-78% CO2

-71% E-WASTE

-86% WATER

56.3 kg = 230 Km driving a car**

169g = ~2 computer mice

10,380 l = 69 bathtubs**

Approximate weight of computer mouse: 80g

*The calculation of the savings is based on the Fraunhofer Austria 2023 study

**Source CO2 equivalent, source water equivalent
Further results on reductions in the ecological impact can be found in our environmental impact report and in the Fraunhofer study.

CO2

178,000 t

CO2 saved*

556 t

E-WASTE saved*

38 Bil l

WATER saved*

> 6.6 Mio.

TREES planted**

05.

Our savings explained

Between 2018 and 2024, we planted over 6.6 million trees, which we are very proud of. Since Feb 2024, we continue to plant native Irish trees and have been supporting other various 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.

06.

How our savings are calculated compared to new purchases

To get an understanding of our savings compared to new purchases since refurbed was founded in 2017, we extrapolated the data for all the refurbished iPhones, iPads, Lenovo laptops and MacBooks we have sold. We calculated the savings for these products when an environmental report was available.

We then applied the percentage of savings from the reference product to the entire product group. This means that we applied the 78% CO2 and 71% e-waste savings for the iPhone 11 to all other iPhones, and so on.

For water, we have adopted the values without further adjustments, as there is no publicly available data.

07.

The refurbishment process

Data erasure

Old data is deleted, the memory space is overwritten and the device is reset to the factory settings.

Device testing

Technical experts test the device using approved and certified test software to ensure 100% functionality.

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 a 40-step refurbishment process.

08.

Our quality control

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.


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!

© Refurbed Marketplace GmbH

PRIVACY POLICY

T&C

COOKIE POLICY

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.

10.

Our partners

TAKE

PRODUCE

DISPOSE

TAKE

PRODUCE

REFURBISH

RECYCLE

REUSE

refurbed Impact Report
Fraunhofer Impact ReportFraunhofer Impact Report

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.