Buying a refurbished cell phone can reduce environmental impact by 91% | Sustainability

“Purchasing a refurbished cell phone reduces, on average, the environmental impact annual rate of 91% to 55%, depending on the indicator, compared to using a smartphone new”. Additionally, “the extraction of 82kg of raw materials and the emission of 25kg of gases with greenhouse effect per year of use”.

Without specifying the percentage of sales of refurbished equipment, the consultancy International Data Corporation (IDC) Europe announced in 2024 that one billion euros was the amount spent by the Portuguese on purchasing mobile phones in 2023 (13% more than the previous year). 2.6 million devices were purchased and the majority smartphoneswith 61% of purchases being high-end, fifth-generation (5G) equipment.

In January 2024, the consultancy presented a five-year forecast for the global market for smartphones used and its expansion and growth until 2027. IDC estimates that global shipments of smartphones used, including officially refurbished and pre-owned, will reach 309.4 million units in 2023. The unit growth represents a 9.5% increase over the 282.6 million units shipped in 2022. Additionally, IDC projects that shipments of smartphones used will reach 431.1 million units in 2027, with a compound annual growth rate of 8.8% from 2022 to 2027.

A study recently published by the French Agency for the Environment and Energy Management (ADEME) analyzed the environmental impact of refurbished digital equipment compared to their new counterparts, throughout their entire life cycle.

According to the report, this alternative allows consumers to achieve “environmental benefits and greater purchasing power”, since the useful life of the products is extended.

Speaking to PÚBLICO, Pedro Nazareth, general director of the environmental association Electrão, states that “the great advantage of repairing and reusing mobile phones has to do with extending the useful life of these equipment”. “If we extend the useful life of these devices as consumers, we won’t consume new cell phones as frequently.”

“Here, there are very relevant environmental savings: the environmental savings from the extraction of resources and the environmental savings associated with the transformation of these resources into mobile phones”, highlights the general director of Electrão.

Pedro Nazareth also says that there is “a balance between maintaining the products and the energy efficiency of new technologies”, which evolve. However, “repair is a great principle that allows you to extend the average lifespan”, he highlights.

What are the environmental advantages of buying refurbished?

In 2020, 69 thousand tons of CO2 were saved thanks to consumers who chose to buy a refurbished cell phone instead of a new one, says the study commissioned by ADEME.

The work also highlights that reconditioning can avoid annual environmental impacts of between 46% and 80% in the case of tablets, 43% and 97% on portable computers and 36% and 99% on stationary computers. Within the sector, there are significant variations in impact due to factors such as extending product life and adding new tools to equipment.

Did you also know that 88 cell phones can create an engagement ring? This is what the environmental association Electrão explains, where mobile phones, which fall into the category of small electrical equipment, must be deposited at the end of their life, in one of the collection points across the country, to then have a new life.

According to Electrão, in Portugal, more than 130 thousand tons of electrical equipment were placed on the market in 2020. “If we continue with the same consumption patterns and without recycling, in 2030, the planet will have the equivalent weight of 7390 towers Eiffel in waste electrical equipment”, warns the organization on the page about this topic.

A refurbished laptop can avoid 27kg of CO2

Reconditioning other electrical and electronic equipment is equally beneficial. According to the document, the purchase of a refurbished portable computer (PC) allows you to avoid extracting 127kg of materials for each year of use. Furthermore, there are 27kg less CO2 for each year of use.

Likewise, for refurbishment to have a positive impact, a computer must have had “a first life of at least five years”. In addition to that, essential parts such as the screen or hard drive must not have been replaced.

Ideally, “reconditioning should be carried out at the end of the equipment’s first useful life” and, in the case of PCs, they should last, in their first life, between four to five years, explains the report.

On the other hand, at an individual level, replacing a new desktop computer with a refurbished desktop computer avoids the emission of 42.5kg of CO2 per year, which represents 4.31% of your footprint of carbon sustainable annual rate and is equivalent to 127.19km by car. It also avoids the extraction of 259.3kg of material and the production of 1.08kg of electronic waste.

What impact does reconditioning equipment have?

“The supply of accessories for refurbished products and screen changes are the main factors that contribute to the environmental impact of the refurbishing process”, according to the study. The more parts that are changed and accessories added, the greater the environmental impact.

According to the study, replacing a screen increases the impact, varying between 15% and 75%, depending on the screen technology and other variables.

In turn, changing a battery leads to an impact between 5% and 65%. Furthermore, “battery change is one of the main factors that contribute to water consumption”.

Even so, “all reconditioning scenarios represent a significant advantage over new equipment.” However, it is possible to reduce the impact that the reconditioning process entails.

How can the impact of reconditioning be reduced?

According to the ADEME publication, favor local commerce, recondition equipment as late as possible during its useful life, preserve it for as long as possible, as well as limit the number of parts that need to be replaced and prioritize parts second-hand are some of the good practices that help to preserve electronic equipment.

For those who recondition equipment, there are also recommendations to follow. Do not systematically change parts, favor the parts in second hand and optimizing packaging in terms of volume, weight and materials are practices that must be adopted.

In the same sense, distribution platforms should organize the return of replaced cell phones to increase the deposit value and work with restorers to put in place an after-sales service or a functional economics which allows you not to systematically replace parts, but to provide a repair service associated with a package to ensure that the equipment lasts as long as possible.

Recycling electrical equipment on a global scale

Only 22% of used electrical equipment is recycled worldwide, according to the results of the 4th report Global E-waste Monitorproduced by the United Nations (UN).

According to the study, in 2022, 62 million tons of used electrical equipment were generated worldwide, a record number, which represents 82% more than in 2010.

Despite the global panorama, Electrão states that “2023 was a standout year for the recycling of electrical equipment in Portugal, with more than 27 thousand tons of this waste being collected and sent for treatment by Electrão”. The organization assumes that “this is the best result in recent years”.

Pedro Nazareth states that “cell phones, computers and tablets are the classes of electrical and electronic products that are collected the most and can be recycled the most”. This happens, in part, “because they are products that have components with economic value and that can be used for new uses”, as is the case of copper and ion batteries lithium, clarifies. Electrão’s ambition is to further increase the recycling rate of this equipment.

On 22 March this year, the European Commission adopted a new proposal for common rules to promote the repair of goods, “which will result in savings for consumers and support the objectives of the European Green Deal”.

Text edited by Andrea Cunha Freitas