through the sale of refurbished electronicsthat is, products that have been used, collected, analyzed, repaired and renewed by professional refurbishers, the Back Market marketplace has already avoided the emission of 803 thousand tons of CO2e the use of 2.7 million tons of raw materials and 827 million kiloliters of water, avoiding the generation of more than 3,000 tons of electronic waste. The conclusion is from the report “The environmental impact of digital around the world”, presented by the French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME).
The study aims to measure the environmental footprint of electronic devices globally and identify the points of action and best practices, taking into account CO2e emissions, consumption of water and raw materials, and generation of electronic waste. In addition, it analyzes the impact of refurbished devices versus new ones, taking into account the shipment and delivery of a smartphone, the extraction of raw materials, the manufacture of parts and the refurbishment process. The figures reveal that a new smartphone has a useful life of three years before being refurbished and two years after being refurbished.
“Our mission is to make society aware of the impact of technology on the environment and to show that there are quality alternatives at better prices. This study comes to support our vision for the future of technology consumption and leaves us proud of the path we have traveled in these eight years”, says Nathanaël Berbessou, General Manager of Back Market in Spain.
Back Market is present in more than 16 countries, with Spain being one of its main markets, and the data shows its global impact over the years. In 2021 alone, Back Market has avoided the emission of more than 264 thousand tons of CO2e, the use of 901 thousand tons of raw materials and the generation of more than 1,026 tons of electronic waste, in addition to saving more than 243 million kiloliters of water.
The report also explains the impact of each refurbished product. According to ADEME, a refurbished mobile allows you to save the CO2 equivalent of 492km by car, a tablet the equivalent of 338km, and a laptop and a computer at 773km and 1,193km, respectively.
How much does the production process pollute?
The production process of an electronic device requires high amounts of water, which is used for the mining phase of raw materials or for assembly machines. Thus, at the level of water savings, when buying reconditioned products you can avoid the recommended consumption for an adult for 103 years, for each mobile; for 151 years, in the case of the tablet; for 255 years for the laptop, and 216 years for the desktop computer.
Finally, a single refurbished device makes it possible to avoid the consumption of raw materials equivalent to the weight of 12 bicycles, a tablet would need the equivalent weight of 14 bicyclesa laptop the weight of 33 and the laptop the weight of 66.
“We always knew that what we did made a difference, but these results are amazing and show how important it is to change the way we think about buying new products. The constant purchase and change of device at an unsustainable rate has a huge environmental cost. While choosing to buy a refurbished product won’t save the planet, this study shows it will certainly help the trend grow as people become more sensitive to its environmental impact«, says Nathanaël Berbessou, general manager of Back Market in Spain.
