The research partnership
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 reviewed by GutCert.
Unlike typical carbon footprint calculators that rely on averages, our model uses the actual technical specifications of each device: 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 savings across the full second lifecycle — from transport and refurbishment through to distribution and use — and compares it to the environmental cost of producing an equivalent new device.
Inputs used per device
- Storage capacity (GB)
- Battery condition (new replacement or original)
- Production year / generation
- Screen size
- RAM (for laptops)
- Hard drive type (for laptops)
The six impact categories
The model measures savings 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, 83% of CO₂ emissions are avoided.
Virtual Water
The total volume of freshwater used throughout a product's supply chain — from mining to manufacturing. Electronics are extraordinarily water-intensive. Refurbished devices avoid 87–92% of this water consumption.
E-Waste
Electronic waste is one of the fastest-growing waste streams globally and contains hazardous materials. Extending a device's life through refurbishment directly avoids contributing to e-waste. Savings range from 76–96% depending on device type.
Material Resources
Measured in grams of antimony equivalent (g Sb-Eq), this captures the overall depletion of natural mineral and metal resources required to produce a new device.
Critical Raw Materials
Rare earth elements and other materials classified as critical by the EU due to supply risk and economic importance — including cobalt, lithium, and tantalum. Refurbishing avoids re-mining these scarce materials.
Conflict Materials
Minerals such as tin, tungsten, tantalum, and gold that are often sourced from conflict regions. Every device that doesn't need to be newly manufactured reduces demand for these materials.
Key figures
Average savings for smartphones, tablets, and laptops without new batteries, compared to buying new.
Battery condition
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 slightly adjusted to account for this. In all cases, buying refurbished 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. The company invests in landscape restoration in Ethiopia, innovative CO₂ removal, e-waste recycling, and native tree planting. refurbed received B Corp certification in 2024.
Read our full sustainability report →