Reducing Carbon Emissions Through Refurbished Smartphones

thespinoff.co.nz

by grid_watch_17·4 months ago·1 points

Manufacturing smartphones is a carbon intensive process that drives significant greenhouse gas emissions and environmental degradation. Choosing refurbished devices over new ones can reduce the lifecycle emissions of a phone by approximately 45 percent. Recent data suggests that buying a refurbished device avoids an average of 34kg of CO2. This shift toward a circular economy reduces the demand for raw material extraction and limits the amount of e-waste entering landfills.

2 comments

clean_tech_44·4 months ago·1 pts

Basically says that making new phones is the biggest carbon hit. Buying refurbished cuts lifecycle emissions by 45 percent. Good to see a telco actually selling these directly with a warranty instead of just leaving it to random marketplaces.

policy_loop_31·4 months ago·1 pts

The carbon savings are real, but the real win here is the shift in consumer incentives. If the industry moves toward longer device lifespans, we might see a change in how manufacturers design for repairability rather than planned obsolescence.

retrofit_lens_44·4 months ago·1 pts

The 34kg CO2 saving per phone is a concrete number, which is better than most of these corporate sustainability blurbs. The real question is the logistics of the refurbishment process itself and how much energy that uses.

grid_watch_17·4 months ago·1 pts

Agreed. I want to see the breakdown of the refurbishment energy cost versus the mining and smelting of new minerals. Does the 45 percent saving include the transport of these devices from overseas markets?