REFURBED: Growing the Online Market for Refurbished Electronics
Austria-based EIT Climate-KIC start-up Refurbed is an online marketplace for refurbished consumer electronics, which cost up to 40% less than their new equivalents.
Extending the lifetime of electronics decreases the demand for new products and the CO2 associated with their manufacture, as well as mitigating the problem of e-waste.
Policymakers and regulators can play a key role in driving the growth of the refurbished electronics sector through measures that simplify the handling of refurbished electronics.
Creating an innovative platform is not, in itself, sufficient to guarantee the transformation of existing production systems; to do so requires support from other system elements (in order to, for example, create consumer awareness and build new markets).
This case study illustrates the opportunities and challenges of the Refurbed platform in the context of integrated systems innovation.