Tag: swappie

Conscious Consumerism Guide – A greener Christmas by Swappie

This holiday season, embrace the spirit of giving while reducing overconsumption and waste. Instead of rushing to buy the latest gadgets and contributing to the growing issue of e-waste, consider gifting consciously. Swappie, a leader in high-quality refurbished iPhones, offers the perfect tech solution for a sustainable Christmas. With a rigorous 52-stage refurbishment process and a 12-month warranty, Swappie makes it easy to invest in the circular economy.
But why stop there? Once you’ve unwrapped your new phone, sell your old one back to Swappie, no matter its condition. It will either be refurbished for a new user or responsibly repurposed for parts. By choosing Swappie, you’re giving technology a second life while making an eco-friendly choice that truly matters.
Pair this idea with other anti-consumerist gifting tips, from experiential presents to handmade items, to create a Christmas that’s kinder to the planet.
Swappie’s Tips for a greener Christmas
  • Experiences, more than things,Instead of buying physical gifts that may end up unused, gift experiences such as concert tickets, cooking classes, or even a subscription to an online service. These gifts are memorable, personalized, and don’t produce waste.
  • Shop local
    Supporting local artisans with sustainable practices reduces the carbon footprint associated with shipping and packaging. It also helps build community resilience.
  • Buy gifts with a purpose
    Choose gifts from brands that prioritize social and environmental impact, such as fair-trade goods, organic products, or items from companies with a clear give-back mission. Swappie, for example, gives old phones a new life, reducing the need for new production and cutting down e-waste.
  • DIY
    Handmade gifts, such as home-baked treats, upcycled crafts, or personalized photo albums, carry sentimental value without harming the environment. Encouraging creativity and personalization can reduce the waste that comes with mass-produced items.
  • Wrapping
    Avoid single-use wrapping paper and instead, opt for reusable alternatives like fabric gift wrap (like furoshiki, the Japanese wrapping technique), recycled paper, or repurposed materials like old maps or newspaper. Tying gifts with reusable ribbons or natural materials like twine can also add charm without waste.
  • Charity
    For the person who has everything, make a donation in their name to a cause they care about, such as an environmental charity or a community project. It’s a thoughtful way to reduce material waste and contribute to a meaningful cause.
  • Go digital!
    Gifting digital content, such as e-books, audiobooks, or streaming subscriptions, minimizes material waste while offering entertainment or learning opportunities.
  • Long lasting is the way!
    Encourage choosing products that are built to last, reducing the likelihood of them being replaced or discarded quickly. For tech, refurbished iPhones from Swappie are a great example of high-quality, durable gifts, thanks to a 12-month warranty and extensive 52-stage refurbishment process

Swappie – More than 60% of Irish consumers Unaware about the Growing Impact of E-waste

As the world celebrated Earth Day, Swappie, Europe’s largest iPhone refurbisher, has unveiled a dire need to educate people about the impact of e-waste. This alarm bell comes as a study by the United Nations reveals that a record 62 million tonnes of e-waste was produced in 2022, up 82% from 2010; on track to rise another 32%, to 82 million tonnes, in 2030.

Swappie did a pan-Europe community survey to gauge people’s knowledge and awareness about sustainable habits, carbon footprint and the impact of e-waste on the planet. The result was a startling and urgent need for more awareness across all age groups shedding light on widespread ignorance regarding e-waste and its consequences.

Globally, the annual generation of e-waste is rising by 2.6 million tonnes while the documented recycling rate has dropped from 22.3% in 2022 to 20% in 2030 – as recycling efforts fail to match pace with the monumental growth of e-waste generation worldwide.

The key highlights from the survey are as follows:

Awareness Gap:
A staggering 62.7% of Irish respondents were unaware of the projected 82 million metric ton increase in e-waste by 2030, equivalent to discarding 1,000 laptops every second.

Personal Impact on E-Waste:
Around 25% of global respondents correctly estimated their annual e-waste production.

Knowledge of iPhone Carbon Emissions:
22.7% correctly identified that it emits approximately 82 kg of CO2 in its first year of life.

Concern for the Environment:
Despite the lack of e-waste awareness, the majority of Irish respondents expressed significant concern about their carbon footprint and environmental impact.
61.6% rated their concern as 4 or 5 on a scale of 1-5, indicating high levels of worry about their personal environmental footprint.

Sounding the alarm, Luísa Vasconcelos e Sousa, Country Manager for Ireland at Swappie said: “These survey findings underscore the critical importance of raising awareness about e-waste and its detrimental effects on our planet. It is evident that there is a strong desire among consumers to make more informed choices to mitigate their impact on the environment – but the buck doesn’t stop here. We, at Swappie, pledge to inform more and more people about e-waste and how every person can contribute in making the world a better place.”

Swappie remains committed to environmental education and sustainability, aiming to empower individuals with knowledge to combat e-waste and reduce carbon emissions. As part of its Earth Day initiatives, Swappie will be launching educational campaigns and resources to help individuals better understand and address the challenges posed by e-waste.

Swappie appoints new country manager – Luísa Vasconcelos e Sousa

Swappie, Europe’s foremost brand in refurbished smartphones, is delighted to introduce Luísa Vasconcelos e Sousa as the Country Manager for Ireland. Armed with a degree in Business Management and a specialization in Digital Transformation, Luísa brings a wealth of experience from her years at Facebook’s European headquarters (Meta) in Dublin, coupled with a diverse background in banking and marketing.

With a mission to promote conscious choices and habits, Luísa joins Swappie with a dedication to reducing the environmental impact of technology and strengthening the circular economy through the promotion of refurbished devices. Her strategic role aligns seamlessly with Swappie’s ongoing commitment to making refurbished tech mainstream, exemplified by the company’s current #Women4SustainableTech initiative.

Launched in celebration of International Women’s Day, #Women4SustainableTech underscores Swappie’s dedication to gender diversity and empowerment within the tech industry. Luísa’s role as the Country Manager for Ireland plays a pivotal part in this initiative, adding momentum to Swappie’s commitment to fostering an inclusive

Luísa Vasconcelos e Sousa, commented: “Working at Swappie is an incredible opportunity to be part of a movement towards more sustainable technology. I look forward to leveraging my experience to drive Swappie’s mission in Ireland, encouraging conscious choices that positively impact our environment.”

Luísa Vasconcelos e Sousa

As Swappie continues to celebrate women making strides in sustainable tech through the #Women4SustainableTech campaign, Luísa’s dynamic background and commitment to sustainability position her as a key player in furthering the company’s goals. With Luísa at the helm, Swappie looks forward to making a lasting impact in Ireland, fostering a more connected and sustainable society.

Electronics contribute to the largest and fastest-growing waste stream worldwide, and less than 15% of phones are recycled. Swappie aims to make it easier for people to purchase environmentally friendly, responsible smartphones by closing the loop on refurbished electronics and making circular smartphones accessible to the masses. Swappie controls its entire value chain, including carrying out all refurbishments at its factories in Helsinki, Tallinn and Leipzig, to ensure that the phones consumers receive are refurbished to the highest possible standards using the latest technology. 

Cash for tech trash – but are Irish consumers ready?

New research commissioned by Europe’s leading online destination for buying and selling refurbished iPhones, Swappie has highlighted the fact that Irish people are a nation of hoarders, at least when it comes to tech. This latest survey, conducted by market research company, Kantar shows that while 47% of Irish people are aware they can sell their old iPhone, they hadn’t considered doing so.

Despite an increased awareness and appreciation among consumers for the refurbished tech industry, it appears people haven’t quite got their heads around the ease of selling their old smartphone and the rewards that come with doing so. Of the 1,000 people surveyed between March and April of this year, 48% of respondents with a broken smartphone did not know they could get cash for it.

In fact, when it comes to passing on old devices only 21% said they would consider selling their old smartphone to an online store, preferring instead to sell to a friend or relative (45%), to an electronics or retail store (37%) or to another consumer via a marketplace (35%).

Most interestingly for companies like Swappie, whose end-to-end model hinges on consumers’ willingness to part with old tech, is the indication that individuals seem determined to hold on to old devices whether they are fully functional or faulty. More than half of respondents (56%) wanted to keep their functioning device as a spare phone however 1 in 4 simply felt it was too much effort to sell the device.

The recent launch of Swappie’s Premium Series addressed consumer concerns around the cosmetic quality and battery life of refurbished smartphones. In the same way, refining the company’s resale and refurbishment offering from a procedural perspective looks to drive the circular message home.

“Improving our resale and refurbishment offering is key to ensuring consumers get the most out of their old tech. We want people to understand that even if the device is faulty or broken – we can put it to use! That’s a key component of the circular model. We receive iPhones in all kinds of conditions, but our dedicated experts in Europe can refurbish whole handsets or repurpose old parts to give tech that would otherwise sit in a drawer a new life. Recently, we’ve improved the efficiency of our resale site, lowered shipping costs and made a whole host of minor – but essential, improvements to ensure it’s as simple and efficient as possible to sell your old iPhone to Swappie.” Luisa Vasconcelos e Sousa, Country Manager for Ireland.  

Swappie reveals its first ever premium product, the Premium Series

Swappie, Europe’s leading online destination for buying and selling refurbished iPhones, has announced today a new addition to its professionally refurbished offer: The Premium Series. As its first ever premium product, this new line closes the gap in the current market by bringing a first class refurbished smartphone experience to everyone, making it easier than ever for consumers to do the right thing for the planet.

The Premium Series, which collects devices that are cosmetically flawless, fully functional with 100% capacity battery, will be available in all countries Swappie operates in from today. The highlight of Swappie’s Premium Series is its carbon footprint which, like the other refurbished devices offered by Swappie, generates 78% less emissions than a new smartphone, meaning that from today consumers can own an even more perfect version of technology without contributing to the vast amount of e-waste generated as a result of smartphone production.

“We’ve always made it imperative to listen to our customers, and over the years with this approach and through constant improvements in our offering we’ve gotten closer to them and made refurbished electronics a little bit more mainstream. But we knew this wasn’t enough, that there was a group of consumers who would only choose refurbished if the phone had pristine aesthetic conditions or a battery with full capacity. Even guided by the wish of doing the right thing for the planet, the lack of this solution stopped them from making this choice. That’s why we’re bringing Swappie’s Premium Series to the market, because it represents a class above new which will make it easier for discerning consumers to incorporate the circular economy into their everyday lives’ comments Casper Andersen, Premium Series Lead at Swappie.

A recent survey commissioned by Swappie and conducted by market research company Kantar shed light on the reasons why some people are still buying a new smartphone over a refurbished one with over a third of consumers (34%) citing battery health, followed by the functional quality of a new phone (28%) and lack of signs of wear (20%). Swappie’s refurbished Premium Series addresses directly these concerns as it is essentially new, offering 100% capacity battery, no sign of wear, full operational capacity and, as with all Swappie iPhones sold, it comes with a 12-month Swappie warranty. Additionally,  the Premium Series produces a fraction of the e-waste traditionally associated with a new smartphone, so it is also a better choice for the planet.

Swappie CEO and co-founder Sami Marttinen said ‘We are passionate about creating a world that is more sustainable, ethical, and inclusive. Our customers sit at the heart of everything we do, and we are determined to make using our services as easy and pleasurable as possible. Swappie is in a unique position as all our refurbishment work is done in our own facilities in Europe, we own our own supply chain, and we offer benefits like warranties and returns. At every stage we can ensure best practices are maintained, guaranteeing high-quality products that are fully functional. This is vital in building long-term trust in Swappie. Smartphones don’t have an expiry date and we’re hoping that adding the Premium Series to our beloved product line will help even more consumers feel as comfortable buying a refurbished iPhone as they would a used car.’

‘The manufacture of new smartphones produces over 100 million tonnes of CO2 a year while e-waste is the fastest growing form of waste on the planet. 85-95% of the emissions connected to smartphones are released during manufacture, including the extraction of raw materials, shipping and the first year of life. Earlier this year, Brussels proposed legislation to promote consumers’ right to repair which is a step in the right direction. However, we need to go further to make sure any practices which limit independent repair through processes like serialization, restrictions on the distribution of parts and access to manuals are prohibited. Consumers should be able to seek affordable, quality repair from the provider of their choice and under no circumstances should product functionalities be degraded because repair was done outside of the network of original manufacturers. This is the only way to effectively promote repair over replacement’ commented Jori Ahvonen, CTO at Swappie

Premium Series handsets are limited in number, but the Premium grade is not limited to a specific model. Premium Series is available from today at www.swapppie.com