Smarando Refurbished iPhone
Smarando is a marketplace for used and refurbished iPhones from Apple. To give the smartphones a second life, they undergo a professional refurbishment process at Smarando and are shipped climate-neutrally with DHL Go Green. A refurbished smartphone helps to avoid a significant proportion of the emissions that would be generated during the extraction of raw materials and production of a new smartphone. At the same time, it helps to reduce the amount of electronic waste.
In order to record the greenhouse gas emissions caused by a Smarando refurbished iPhone, the individual steps in its life cycle were considered in a comprehensive PCF process.
Observation period for the product carbon footprint: 27.06.2022 - 27.06.2023
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
The study examined a Refurbished iPhone In order to achieve a representative result, an exemplary phone was created for the period under review, which takes into account the average processes carried out on a phone.
ACCOUNTING LIMITS
The product carbon footprint takes into account the Purchase including packaging and material, the Reconditioning including charging and cleaning, the Sale, the Use and End of life of the product.
FUNCTIONAL UNIT
The unit of comparison for the quantified benefit of the product system was an average refurbished iPhone from Smarando is considered. This is used as a representative reference value.
0.42% | Purchase
2.07% | Reconditioning (charging + cleaning)
0.00% | Sale
91,41% | use
6,10% | End of Life
PURCHASE
The transport of the purchased, used iPhones from different regions (Germany, Netherlands, end customers) was considered in the purchase. The transportation was carried out by truck. The packaging, consisting of cardboard and bubble wrap, was also taken into account.
PREPARATION
Both the emissions for the charging process and the cleaning of the iPhones were taken into account during the preparation. In order to reduce the product-specific emission hotspots, a reusable microfiber cloth is used for cleaning. This is not thrown away, but used and washed frequently.
SALE
The transport of the refurbished iPhones was considered during the sale. The transportation was carried out with DHL Go Green. As DHL Go Green already offsets the transport-specific emissions, no additional emissions are generated in this area.
USE
In the case of use, the energy consumption due to charging processes at the end user was considered. At 91.41% of the process, this accounts for a large proportion of the attributable emissions. The data used is based on the results of Apple's Product Environmental Reports, as comparable use can be assumed for refurbished iPhones. The calculation is based on the assumption that the end user will use the product for three years. The actual emissions generated vary greatly per end user and mainly depend on the type of electricity they use to charge their device. The calculation here is based on the regional electricity mix. If the end user uses electricity from renewable sources instead, emissions during use can be reduced by up to 90% compared to the values shown here.
END OF LIFE
End of life includes transportation from collection points to recycling centers and the energy for mechanical separation and shredding of parts. Like the emissions from use, it is based on the results of Apple's Product Environmental Reports, as comparable processes take place during the disposal of refurbished iPhones.
CONCLUSION
A refurbished iPhone from Smarando causes on average only 16.4% of the emissions that a new phone would cause. Since raw material extraction and production are eliminated, refurbished phones save a considerable amount of emissions. Emissions in the refurbishment process at Smarando are kept to a minimum thanks to the use of environmentally friendly reusable cleaning cloths and climate-neutral shipping via DHL Go Green. The end user himself has the greatest influence on the actual emissions generated by a refurbished iPhone from Smarando, namely through his choice of electricity supply for the daily charging of the cell phone.