Buying used or refurbished electronics rather than new

Why choose second-hand or refurbished products? Buying second-hand or refurbished is a very important ecological gesture. For example: the Remade study states that the impact of a refurbished smartphone is equivalent to 10% of that of a new one. Thus, the carbon impact of manufacturing a new iPhone 7 falls from 56 kg of CO₂ to 9 kg for its refurbished equivalent (a reduction of 84%). Before buying a product, whatever it may be, it is possible to turn to the second-hand market or to refurbished products in order to limit one's environmental impact. The refurbished market mainly concerns electronic products (phones, computers, washing machines...). Manufacturing new smartphones raises several problems: - Environmental impact: according to the Canadian university McMaster, the share of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) could reach 14% of total greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. - A social and ethical problem: indeed, producers' working conditions are disastrous and violate human rights. In addition, the extraction of the minerals used in manufacturing, such as tin, tantalum and gold, fuels armed conflicts to the detriment of local populations. - A problem concerning waste electrical and electronic equipment: according to Eurostat, this waste would amount to more than 12 million tonnes per year in the European Union. Collecting this type of waste is a major environmental problem, since only 17.4% of it is properly collected and recycled; the rest is incinerated or dumped in landfill.

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France