How does refurbed calculate environmental savings for refurbished devices?

refurbed partnered with Fraunhofer Austria to build a lifecycle assessment (LCA) model covering over 12,000 products, verified according to ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 and independently audited by GutCert. The model uses each device's actual technical specifications — storage capacity, battery condition, production year, screen size, and RAM — to calculate exact savings compared to buying a new device.

What environmental categories does the refurbed calculation cover?

The model measures savings across six categories: CO₂ emissions (80–85% reduction on average), virtual water consumption (82–92% reduction), e-waste (59–96% reduction), critical raw materials (for smartphones), conflict materials such as tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold (for smartphones), and total material savings.

Why does the battery choice affect my environmental savings?

Replacing the battery adds its own environmental cost — manufacturing a new battery requires materials and energy. Where a new battery was installed, the savings figures are adjusted to account for this additional impact. In all cases, buying refurbished still results in dramatically lower environmental impact than buying new.

Is refurbed's environmental impact calculation independently verified?

Yes. The calculation model is verified according to ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 — the international standards for lifecycle assessment — and independently audited by GutCert. refurbed is also B Corp Certified (2024), recognising the company's commitment to the highest standards of social and environmental performance.

How We Calculate Environmental Savings

The research partnership

Since 2023 refurbed partnered with Fraunhofer Austria to build a calculation model that covers over 12,000 individual products. The model is verified according to ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 — the international standards for lifecycle assessment (LCA) — and independently verified by GutCert.

Unlike some carbon footprint calculators that purely rely on averages, our model is based on three reference products, but then uses the actual technical specifications of each device such as storage capacity, battery condition, production year, screen size, and RAM. This means the savings figure you see is specific to the exact device you bought.

What goes into the calculation

For each device, the model calculates impact savings of a refurbished device compared to a new device. The environmental impact of a refurbished device is based on a partial lifecycle assessment and includes the stages:

transport to refurbisher
refurbishment
sale via marketplace
distribution post sale
utilisation phase

This impact is then compared with the environmental cost of producing an equivalent new device.

Inputs used per device

Battery choice (new or original)
Storage capacity (GB)
Production year / generation
Screen size
RAM (for laptops)
Hard drive type (for laptops)

The six impact categories

The model measures savings compared to a new device across six environmental dimensions:

CO₂ Emissions

Greenhouse gas emissions measured in kilograms of CO₂ equivalent. Buying refurbished avoids the energy-intensive process of mining raw materials and manufacturing a new device. On average, 80–85% of CO₂ emissions are avoided.

Virtual Water

The total volume of water used — from mining to manufacturing. 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 where the water is used. Electronics are extraordinarily water-intensive. Through buying a refurbished device, you can avoid 82–92% of this water consumption.

E-Waste

Electronic waste is the fastest-growing waste stream globally and contains hazardous materials. Extending a device's life through refurbishment directly avoids contributing to e-waste. Savings range from 59–96% depending on device type. The choice of new vs. original battery makes a significant difference on e-waste savings.

Critical Raw Materials (only for smartphones)

34 types of rare earth elements and other materials classified as critical by the EU due to supply risk and economic importance — including cobalt, lithium, copper and nickel. A refurbished smartphone avoids between 25% (with new battery) and 69% (without new battery) of these scarce materials.

Conflict Materials (only for smartphones)

Tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold (3TG) are often sourced from conflict regions such as the DRC. These conflict materials are heavily used in smartphone production and can finance armed conflict or can be mined using forced labour. Every device that doesn't need to be newly manufactured reduces demand for these materials by 87–97%.

Key figures

Average savings for smartphones, tablets, and laptops with and without new battery compared to buying new.

80–85%

less CO₂ emitted

82–92%

less virtual water used

59–96%

less e-waste generated

New vs. original battery

The calculator asks whether your device came with a new battery, because replacing the battery adds its own environmental cost. Where a new battery was installed, the savings figures are lower to account for this. In all cases, buying refurbished, with or without new battery, still results in a dramatically lower environmental footprint than buying new.

refurbed's broader sustainability commitments

Beyond the calculator, refurbed measures its full corporate carbon footprint across the entire value chain — including the products sold on the platform. To take responsibility for its impact, the company invests into environmental impact projects across the areas of landscape restoration, innovative carbon removal technologies and e-waste recycling. To showcase it's commitment to sustainability and align with the highest standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability, refurbed has received its B Corp certification in 2024.

Learn more about Sustainability at refurbed →