Refurbished Smartphones: An Eco-Friendly Idea That Isn't What It Seems?

The narrator begins by correcting the vocabulary. A refurbished phone is a used device whose physical components and software settings have been replaced or restored so it can be put back on the market. A recycled smartphone would be a phone whose components all came from reprocessed electronic waste. The narrator points out that no such thing exists.

To judge refurbishing, you first need to know the environmental impact of a smartphone. Refurbishing "doesn't magically erase" the damage already done. And according to the episode, 80% of that damage occurs during manufacturing, before the phone is ever used.

The narrator puts forward several figures. A phone weighs between 150 and 200 g, but more than 60 different materials have to be recovered from nearly 200 kg of material extracted from mines. The narrator asserts that all mining activities devastate the surrounding environment and contribute to ecotoxicity, defined as follows: humanity releases more or less harmful pollutants into the air, water and soil, and these end up in plants and animals, humans included.

The narrator then goes into detail about refining. The metals that make phones work almost never exist in pure form. The raw material has to be extracted, separated from unwanted elements, and then concentrated to optimal purity through chemical, thermal or electrical processes. These operations consume a great deal of energy and release large amounts of waste, toxic fumes and mining residue. The narrator cites arsenic and mercury, which are released during the extraction and refining of gold, since phones contain gold.

Then there is transportation. Before being assembled, the components of a smartphone travel, according to the episode, four times around the planet. Because of all this pollution upstream of use, phones account for more than 15% of digital-related greenhouse gas emissions in France.

Ventilo's companion sees this as one more reason to buy refurbished, since every refurbished device is a smartphone that doesn't get produced. The companion immediately spots the "Ringo Max Plus 37," the sketch's fictional model, and suggests buying two given the price. The narrator stops them. Reusing a phone that has already been produced instead of buying a new one is "potentially virtuous," but it all depends on how you do the math.

The first method assumes that a refurbished phone simply replaces the purchase of a new one. In that case, only the refurbishing steps are counted: data erasure, compliance checks, functional testing and replacement of a few components if necessary. The narrator gives the average quantities replaced:

• 20.5 cm² of screen;
• 9 g of battery;
• 0.21 g of electronic components;
• 0.5 g of non-electronic components;
• 0.03 g of printed circuit board.

By this calculation, a refurbished smartphone would spare one person 24 kg of CO2 equivalent emissions per year of use, the same as a 115 km car trip. It would also avoid the extraction of 77 kg of raw materials. The narrator considers the gain modest ("it's no gold mine, but it's better than nothing"). Above all, the narrator faults this method for forgetting that the impacts of the original manufacturing still exist.

The narrator considers the second method to be the right one. It takes into account how long the phone was used when new, before being refurbished. A phone has a theoretical lifespan: the average time it works without bugs under normal use, meaning respecting charge cycles and avoiding running it over, putting it through the washing machine or dropping it in the bath or the toilet. This first phase of use is its "first life." According to the episode, it could theoretically last 5 to 10 years depending on the manufacturer, the model and how it is used.

Ideally, the device should be refurbished once this first life has fully run its course. The manufacturing impacts would then be completely amortized. The narrator notes that the current industrial model is far from this, because the first life is almost always cut short. A phone bought new is generally replaced after two or three years in Europe, and after six months to a year in the United States. Its first life remains unfinished, and the amortization of its manufacturing is carried over to its second life, the refurbished version. The narrator calls these "zombie phones."

The narrator draws a straightforward conclusion. A Ringo Max Plus 37 refurbished six months after its release has almost the same environmental footprint as the same device new, since its first use lasted only six months, far short of its theoretical lifespan.

The narrator raises another problem. Buying the latest refurbished releases fuels the rebound effect. Because these devices cost less, people buy more of them and more often. In the end, regularly buying refurbished phones that are too recent can have a greater impact than buying a new phone and keeping it for several years.

Ventilo and the companion settle for an older refurbished model, the Ringo Max Plus 35, released two years earlier. Once it's delivered, WhatsApp can't be installed: the app version isn't compatible with the device.

The narrator sees this as planned obsolescence. According to the narrator, if people need or want to change phones often, that is a business model intended by the tech giants. The narrator describes three forms:

• Technical obsolescence: one or more physical components become unusable after a certain number of uses, such as a battery that can only handle a limited number of charge cycles.
• Software obsolescence: recent versions of apps run poorly, slow down, or won't even install on devices with an older operating system. This is what happens to Ventilo with WhatsApp.
• Perceived obsolescence: the narrator attributes this to marketing, which makes people believe that they themselves are outdated if they don't buy the latest model.

The narrator cites two figures. 88% of French people replace their phone while it still works, and two-thirds of smartphones in use are less than two years old. This, according to the narrator, is the goal of these strategies: getting people to replace perfectly functional devices as often as possible.

The narrator believes the ideal form of refurbishment should be called repair. For that, smartphones would need to be designed from the outset to last longer. Ventilo feels stuck, and the narrator acknowledges that Ventilo is "pretty much boxed in."

The narrator mentions another trend: dumbphones, as opposed to smartphones. These are often older models whose production has been restarted, or new models with a retro look. They are mainly used for making calls. Their manufacturing also has an impact, but a smaller one, according to the narrator, because they contain less technology and often last longer. They are mostly used by people who want to disconnect, especially from social media. Ventilo's companion jokes about their grandmother's old rotary phone, then admits that a little disconnection might do some good.

On an individual level, the narrator advises extending the life of the phone you already own as much as possible: protecting it with a case and a screen protector, respecting the battery's cycles, getting it repaired. You also need to resist the marketing that pushes you to change models every six months. Before buying, the narrator urges viewers to ask whether they really need the latest innovations, and to weigh their needs against the ecological cost of manufacturing, which the narrator considers exorbitant.

The narrator adds that systemic solutions exist: reorganizing the industry around repairability and durability. That requires action on regulation and politics, which is "no longer the narrator's department" but the viewers'.

The episode ends with Ventilo lamenting not being able to repair a phone as easily as a bike. The question of repairability, presented by the narrator as the real answer to the problem, remains unresolved.