The greenwashing industry of refurbished phones

Companies are increasingly placing sustainability at the heart of their business, convinced that it goes hand in hand with future profitability.

"Buying used equipment is actually a good thing. However, suppliers often advertise that you save CO2 and avoid electronic waste simply by buying a refurbished cell phone or laptop. That's not true," said Susanne Einsiedler, legal manager at vzbv, almost two years ago. "It's also annoying when it's advertised with unrealistic price advantages."

"CO2 emissions are reduced by 70%"

"100% climate neutral"

"194 grams less e-waste"

These are just some of the many questionable claims suppliers make when advertising refurbished products, according to the vzbv.

In fact, reconditioning used devices also produces CO2 emissions and e-waste, for example, when batteries and other parts are replaced. However, one searches in vain on their websites for measures companies take to minimize harmful environmental impact when replacing appliances, selling and shipping them, this is misleading.

Consumers often have to find a balance between cost and convenience when it comes to managing their environmental impact. In the smartphone market, simply keeping the current device longer saves money and has a positive impact on the planet

The European Parliament plans to ban the use of general environmental claims such as "environmentally friendly", "natural", "biodegradable", "climate neutral" or "eco" if they are not accompanied by detailed evidence. It is also intended to prohibit environmental claims based solely on carbon offsetting schemes. Other misleading practices will also be banned, such as making claims about the whole product if the claim is only true for a part of the product, and this would apply for example when we are talking about a refurbished phone to which new parts (such as batteries for example) have been added.

To simplify product information, MEPs plan to allow only the use of sustainability labels based on official certification schemes or those established by public authorities. But those of us who are familiar with the refurbishing market know only too well that there is currently no consensus on labeling and who should do it.

The proposed directive is part of the first circular economy package, and paves the way for a new directive on environmental claims that will further specify the conditions for making environmental claims in the future.

I say it again: companies are increasingly placing sustainability at the heart of their business, convinced that it goes hand in hand with future profitability. And this is partly what is fueling the rapid development of the refurbished phone market.

In the end, operators, retailers, etc., who are the biggest demanders of this type of products, do not have an eco-responsible objective in mind, but purely economic: If green is in fashion and it is what sells, then let's sell green!

Otherwise, instead of wanting to buy quantity, they would be looking for quality and ensure the origin of the phones they buy.

No big phone operator can believe that if he buys 10,000 iphone 14 128gb in perfect condition, he is buying second hand products of European origin and reconditioned within the rules of the art. This simply does not exist. this is not green at all. And there is no worse blind man than the one who does not want to see.

It is important to put an end to the lie of green refurbishment, the only eco-responsible alternative is to keep using your phone for longer, to propose to customers more, better and more affordable methods to repair their equipment.

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