THE DIFFERENCE YOU MAKE

More than just buying and selling: the impact of circulating what’s already on earth.

The next life of an item can be a meaningful one.

The clearest benefit comes when a refurbished device genuinely replaces a new one. We use one published phone comparison and translate the results into everyday language.

See the scale Shop secondhand

WHAT IT CAN MEAN

Keeping a good phone in use can make a real difference.

These are plain-language takeaways from a published refurbished-phone comparison and global e-waste reporting—not a promise about every phone, purchase, or transaction.

Showing U.S. customary units, based on your browser’s regional setting.

51 lb

less climate impact

In the published comparison, a refurbished smartphone that truly replaces a comparable new phone avoids about 51 lb of greenhouse-gas emissions over one year.1

180.8 lb

less new material demand

The same comparison found about 180.8 lb of raw-material extraction could be avoided for that one qualified replacement.1

68.3M tons

electronics discarded worldwide

UNITAR and ITU report this amount of e-waste generated globally in 2022—more reason to keep usable devices in circulation.2

22.3%

formally collected and recycled

That means fewer than 1 in 4 tonnes of global e-waste were documented as properly collected and recycled in 2022.2

TRY THE SCALE

See what one choice could add up to.

Move the slider from Los Angeles to the world. It imagines every person in that place choosing one qualifying refurbished phone instead of a comparable new one, for one year.1

ONE-PHONE REFERENCE

About 51 lb less climate impact.

And about 180.8 lb less new material extraction in this specific published comparison—not a guaranteed result for every device.

YOUR EXAMPLE

Los Angeles

3.9M people · 2025 city estimate7

U.S. customary units

98.1K tons

potentially less climate impact

if one qualified replacement happens for each person in one year

349.7K tons

less new material extraction

in the same specific phone comparison

89K acres

forest carbon size comparison3

a way to picture the scale, not a forest saved claim

This is an illustrative thought experiment, not a forecast, Orbit footprint, or a claim about every phone. It uses the population estimate shown above and the same published one-phone reference for each person.

THE MATERIALS STORY

End of life is not an impact claim.

Electronics reuse can extend a device’s useful life, but it does not guarantee what happens next. Final collection, repair duration, recycling, and disposal all shape the eventual waste outcome.

Landfill and e-waste context: the world generated 62 million tonnes of e-waste in 2022, while only 22.3% was documented as properly collected and recycled.2 We do not call a reused device “landfill saved” without its verified end-of-life outcome.

Raw-material context: the 82 kg figure is about avoided extraction in the published refurbished-versus-new smartphone comparison—not the physical weight of a device or a promise for every electronics purchase.1

No false diversion claim: reuse may delay a device becoming e-waste, but no per-device landfill diversion is reported here. That would require device weight, reuse duration, and verified final recovery data.

FORESTS: A WAY TO VISUALIZE IT

A size comparison, not a forest promise.

EPA estimates that an average U.S. forest acre takes in about one metric tonne of CO2 each year.3 We use this only as a familiar size comparison—Orbit is not claiming any forest is protected, planted, or saved.

600K acres

per year, as a comparison

City-scale forest carbon equivalent.

7.9M acres

per year, as a comparison

U.S.-scale forest carbon equivalent.

189.3M acres

per year, as a comparison

Worldwide forest carbon equivalent.

READ THE MODEL, NOT JUST THE HEADLINE

Impact claims need guardrails.

Refurbishment is not impact-free, and it does not automatically replace new production. Repair, shipping, accessories, device condition, usage period, energy, and shopper behavior all affect the outcome.

What this model is: an illustrative replacement scenario grounded in a published refurbished-smartphone comparison and transparent population inputs.

What it supports: an informed conversation about extending useful life and avoiding some new material demand—not a universal environmental credit.

What it is not: an estimate of Orbit’s footprint, a guarantee for individual purchases, tonnes of landfill saved, or acres of forest saved. Those claims need transaction-level and product-specific life-cycle data.

A SMALLER FIRST STEP

Keep the right items in use.

Start with what you already own, or discover a piece with more life ahead of it.

Sell with Orbit Explore Shop

SOURCES & METHOD

Read the underlying evidence.

The page uses source-specific figures rather than a blended industry average. The model assumes a qualifying refurbished smartphone replaces a comparable new device; it does not treat device reuse as verified landfill diversion or forest preservation.