PROTECTING THE PLANET

By trading-in a used phone, you give it a chance to have a second life – through being refurbished and re-sold.

Purchasing a refurbished smartphone helps to avoid around 50 Kg CO2e of greenhouse gas emissions. The climate impact of a refurbished phone is 20% or less that of a newly manufactured smartphone – and removes the need to extract over 70 Kg of raw materials.

This is based on a lifecycle assessment study (Erwann Fangeat, ADEME, et al, Assessment of the environmental impact of a set of refurbished products – Final Report (2022)), which found that a refurbished phone used for 2 years creates 24.6kg CO2e less carbon emissions per year when compared to a new phone used for 3 years (according to the study results shown on page 64). Over the 2-year period of use of the refurbished phone, this avoids around 50kg CO2e of carbon emissions. The study found that a refurbished phone has an 87% lower contribution to climate change (or ‘GWP’) compared to a new phone. The study also found that buying and using a refurbished phone instead of a new phone requires the extraction of 76.9kg less raw materials (page 64).

For the full study, see https://librairie.ademe.fr/dechets-economie-circulaire/5833-assessment-of-the-environmental-impact-of-a-set-of-refurbished-products.html

At Vodafone, we aim to provide the technology and connectivity needed for society to transition to a more sustainable future. Since 2020, 116.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions have been avoided through the use of our digital products and services.

*The avoided emissions calculated are estimations based on best available data. The impact of each solution is based on data provided by Vodafone and where data was not available this has been supplemented by secondary sources. The calculation does not consider the life cycle emissions of the solutions. It is assumed that all data provided by Vodafone is correct. See Vodafone’s FY25 ESG Methodology.

**Equivalencies are calculated using the EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Converter: Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator | US EPA (2024). The figures have not been reviewed or verified by the Carbon Trust.

Assumes that: 1 pound = 0.45 kilograms, 1 kilometre = 0.62 miles, 1 US gallon = 3.76 litres

Further information on our Carbon Enablement reporting can be found in our Annual Report.