Environmental Benefits of Refurbished Electronics: Facts and Figures

The technological evolutions in recent times have led to a growing demand for sustainable options. Refurbished electronics like tech gadgets have evolved as the most promising solutions. There is an ever-growing concern about the effects of electronic waste on the environment. The best solution is to buy refurbished or eco-friendly electronics.

The reconditioned or refurbished electronics offer notable cost savings along with reducing the impact of e-waste. About 50 million tons of e-waste find their way to landfills every year. Each of which has led to a catastrophic impact on our ecosystem.

Understanding “Refurbished”

The refurbished devices are primarily pre-owned products that are completely tested and restored, replicating the new working condition. Before reselling, the devices would have a meticulous refurbishment process by the manufacturer or the specialized third-party company.

The whole refurbishment process for the desktops, laptops, smartphones, and other electronics would include the following:

• Complete testing and inspection of the functions of every component
• replacement of the defective parts with the re-certified or new elements
• Removal of every personal information and data wiping from past owners.
• Cosmetic refurbishment or removing signs of external body damage
• Re-packing of every accessory and cable required for usage

Consider if you buy refurbished laptops or refurbished desktops, you are getting a thoroughly operational product backed by a warranty. It comes at the most affordable price, less as compared to the retail price.

Saving Money with Refurbished Electronics

Affordability is the other significant reason behind the consumers picking the refurbished products over the new ones. For instance, the refurbished electronics would generally sell at 20 to 50% less than the original retail price. So businesses can easily save big on their IT equipment by buying refurbished devices.

When you choose to buy these refurbished products instead of the new models with similar specifications, then you can save around $100, $200, or $500 at higher costs. These savings would instantly add up even if you have to buy the computers for the whole family or a student joining a college or for your office setup.

Consumers can effectively save money on these refurbished electronics, and knowing the market will equip you with the best options.

Benefits Of Refurbished Products On the Environment

1. Minimizing The Dependency on Plastics and Core Minerals

Electronics that we are using daily need materials like silicon, gold, lithium, silver, and several other materials. It may use the rare earth elements that get mined from the earth’s core. A few of the materials are under short supply, like cobalt, which is estimated to have 40 years of supply left. Irrespective, mining these materials has a serious adverse impact on the environment.

Additionally, manufacturing computers, smartphones, and other electronics utilizes massive amounts of plastics that get mixed with the chemicals that are partially recycled.

Considering buying refurbished desktop will reuse the parts that are already manufactured, thereby minimizing the requirement for additional plastics and other core minerals.

2. Minimizing Carbon Footprint

Along with polluting the environment and adding enormous waste to our landfills, the manufacturing of the new electronics would utilize a lot of energy. For example, it is noted that 90% of the entire energy impact of smartphones arrives from their manufacturing and distribution process. A notable amount of energy gets consumed just to get the device on the store shelf.

The refurbished computers and other devices reuse the old parts, which would reduce the consumption of energy required for manufacturing the new ones. Due to this, the carbon footprint of the devices is low.

3. Creates Less E-Waste

The old electronics are a huge source of global waste. Recently, less than 20% of the e-waste gets recycled every year, while the rest ends up in landfills.

Purchasing refurbished products aids in reducing e-waste by keeping these old electronics out of landfills. Whenever computers and other electronic devices get refurbished, they get repaired to meet the standards of the manufacturer and get reconditioned like the new ones. It would add to the lifespan of the old electronics.

4. Creates Less Air and Water Pollution

Mining the core minerals generates a notable amount of water pollution. The process of manufacturing would send a lot of pollution into the water and air. Additionally, the elements used for making these electronics are toxic, leading to soil and water pollution whenever they stand at a landfill.

The refurbished electronics use recycled parts that are installed manually. It generates less pollution compared to the manufacturing of new ones while sending the old equipment out to the landfill.

Conclusion

If you are out shopping for electronic devices, then opt for the refurbished ones. You can reduce the environmental impacts and conserve natural resources by extending the usable life of the electronics. A greater number of consumers today are shifting their focus to buying eco-friendly electronics. These are the best ways to upgrade the tech and help in better sustainable actions.