The positive
impact
At Foxway, we are committed to extending the lifecycle of IT products by prioritizing sustainability and adopting circular economy principles. Our mission is to maximize the longevity of electronic devices through refurbishment, enabling them to enjoy a second, third, or even fourth life. By doing so, we contribute to solving broader challenges within the tech industry.
Through our refurbishment and reuse initiatives, we conserve valuable resources, reduce e-waste, and decrease reliance on new production. By extending the lifespan of electronic devices, we lower the demand for new manufacturing, thereby cutting the energy and raw materials required, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and mitigating pollution associated with the disposal of electronic products. To further reduce our environmental impact, we focus on sustainable sourcing, energy-efficient processes, and minimizing waste within our supply chain. For materials or devices that cannot be refurbished, we ensure responsible recycling practices that align with global sustainability standards. Our mission is deeply rooted in the principles of degrowth and circularity. We aim to optimize resource efficiency, reduce unnecessary consumption, and champion a circular economy that lessens the negative planetary footprint and addresses industry challenges.
Transparency in Impact: Highlighting Our Key Contributions
In this section, we aim to present a clear and simplified overview of the areas where our operations and services create the most significant positive impact while addressing their associated footprint. Our goal is to provide as much transparency as possible, helping stakeholders understand the tangible benefits and sustainability outcomes of our efforts.
Navigating the Myths
of the Tech Industry
The tech industry is saturated with myths, claims, and ratings that can often mislead or confuse users about how best to reduce their environmental footprint. At Foxway, we are dedicated to transparency and honesty. We strive to clearly communicate what we can achieve and how our actions create meaningful, positive impacts, enabling our customers to make informed and responsible choices.
Waste reduction and recycling practices in a broader perspective
Contact Person: John John Nilsson
We view all materials and goods involved in our operations as valuable resources, rejecting the outdated notion of "waste" in a world of finite resources. Our commitment is to reuse, repair, and responsibly recycle, aiming to minimize global e-waste and mitigate the environmental and social costs of technology production.
Key Initiatives
Extending Product Lifespans: In 2023, Foxway refurbished and repaired nearly 1 million devices and harvested an equivalent number of spare parts for reuse, reducing the need for new production and cutting down e-waste globally. We guide customers toward durable, longevity aligned products to maximize life time, re-use capabilities and sustainability.
Global E-Waste Responsibility: While many devices used in Europe eventually end up as landfill in regions like Africa and Southeast Asia, we mitigate this through by from 2025 offering a closed-loop service, collecting one device for every new one introduced to the market. Functional, high-quality refurbished devices remain vital to education, democracy, and equality in the Global South, providing an alternative to low-quality, short-lived products.
Addressing Informal and global ITAD and E-Waste Sectors: The lack of infrastructure and governance in parts of the Global South poses challenges. In 2024, Foxway audited our ITAB partners and their E-waste practices in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, identifying areas for improvement. When local recycling options fall short, we we offer our clients to transport devices back to Europe for proper refurbishment and reuse.
End-of-Life Management: We have implemented practices that are targeting our non-functional devices from our operations to be dismantled for spare parts for re-use and sent remaining materials to leading recyclers in the Nordics and EU. This minimizes landfill contributions and emissions during recycling processes.
A Reality-Oriented Perspective on the Global Second-Hand Tech Market
Foxway does not manage, trade, sell, or transport waste. However, the refurbishment industry has long faced unfounded criticism, rooted in outdated and partially colonial perspectives, that claims it contributes to e-waste exports by selling high-quality, functional devices on the global market.
In reality, the second-hand tech market for functional devices plays a crucial role in reducing inequality, fostering connectivity, and promoting inclusion in our increasingly tech-dependent world.
Access to technology is vital for supporting democracy, education, and equality. Restricting the trade of reliable, refurbished devices would harm these efforts and perpetuate inequality.
For many schools, businesses, and individuals in financially constrained regions, the choice is often between a refurbished, high-quality device from a trusted brand or a low-cost, low-quality product with an uncertain lifespan.
Both options risk ending up in landfills, but limiting global trade of refurbished devices could exacerbate the problem rather than solve it.
Foxway prioritizes risk mitigation by ensuring quality, promoting responsible practices, and addressing waste from a planetary perspective. We remain committed to supporting sustainable solutions that balance environmental responsibility with the need for equitable access to technology.
Towards a Planetary Perspective
Foxway recognizes that addressing e-waste requires systemic change. While European regulations like extended producer responsibility fall short of a global perspective, we are working toward solutions that prioritize planetary stewardship. Starting in 2025, all customers will be encouraged to participate in waste management contributions as part of shared end-of-life responsibility.
Our efforts are not limited to refurbishment and recycling within Europe. We strive to improve global supply chain practices, reduce reliance on the informal e-waste sector, and implement effective local processes wherever we operate. Foxway remains dedicated to driving change by combining local action with global accountability, ensuring that the environmental footprint of technology is reduced at every stage.
Knowledge Sharing and Advocacy for Sustainability in Tech
Contact Person: Stefan Nilsson
In 2024, Foxway adopted a bold strategy centered on authentic sustainability and “degrowing” the industry—promoting responsible growth by challenging the current linear and flawed circular models in the tech sector. Acknowledging our material impact, we aim to advocate for greater transparency across the value chain while confronting industry myths and mainstream feel-good narratives. Our updated website, what you’re reading now, marks a shift toward prioritizing accountability over superficial metrics, aiming to reveal the realities and challenges of sustainable technology.
Our Role in Industry Advocacy
At Foxway, we are committed to driving meaningful change across the tech industry through active collaboration and thought leadership:
Industry Organizations: We are proud members of key networks such as TechSverige, EUREFAS, Cradlenet (a leading Nordic circular economy hub), and CSR Sweden, where we advocate for sustainability and circular practices.
Thought Leadership: We contribute to numerous influential industry reports, sharing expertise and shaping the dialogue on sustainable IT solutions.
Event Advocacy: As regular speakers at prominent European events, including IFA, Techarena, and Hållbart Näringsliv, we share actionable insights and strategies to reduce the industry’s environmental footprint.
OEM Partnerships: We collaborate with initiatives like Lenovo360 to promote and implement sustainable practices across the supply chain.
Let’s
Collaborate
We welcome opportunities to share transformative insights as keynote speakers or event contributors, delivering hard truths and actionable strategies for a more sustainable tech industry. Reach out to us at sustainability@foxway.com
to learn more.
Reduction of Carbon Emissions & Handprint (Avoidance efforts) in relation to CSRD
Contact Person: Kai-Riin Kriisa
Claimed handprint effect 2023 (in CO2e):
Phones: 50471 kg
Tablets: 9247 kg
Laptops: 168662 kg
Desktops: 62349 kg
Total avoidance data / handprint effect: 290729 kg
Avoidance Impact
and Handprint Methodology
According to current GHG Protocol standards and ESRS directives, purchasing refurbished devices also provides clear accounting benefits, i.e., emissions reductions. For example, while a new device carries an approximate footprint of 291 kg CO2e (based on Ecoinvent database), a refurbished device is typically accounted for in Scope 3 with nearly zero emissions. This is because reused devices do not carry legacy production emissions, and the emissions from refurbishment and transport are often deemed negligible in formal accounting. That said, we encourage customers to take a more comprehensive approach by reporting the full emissions associated with their tech purchases (and reporting the footprint of refurbished devices procured from us, using the numbers from our LCA calculations).
Challenges in Measuring Circularity & Avoidance
Extending the lifecycle of tech devices undoubtedly delivers environmental benefits, but accurately quantifying these impacts remains a significant challenge.
One major issue is the lack of robust reporting on baseline (negative) footprints in the industry, with critical factors like biodiversity, land use, social impacts, and water consumption generally omitted.
Understanding Avoidance Data
While choosing refurbished devices over new ones undeniably reduces environmental impact, it’s important to differentiate emissions avoidance from emissions reduction, especially in the context of official GHG footprint accounting aligned with EU regulations.
A carbon footprint measures the total environmental impact of a product over its lifecycle, whereas a carbon handprint highlights its positive contributions. At Foxway, we use the handprint approach to emphasize the climate benefits of our products and services by calculating the hypothetical emissions avoided when a customer selects a refurbished device instead of purchasing a new one.
However, it’s essential to understand that this avoidance figure cannot be used to reduce customers' formal carbon footprint in official reports (such as those aligned with CSRD or other international standards). Instead, it serves as a helpful insight for internal and external communications, showcasing the environmental benefits of choosing refurbished devices. Our calculations, conducted by a third party in accordance with ISO standards, ensure transparency, though like all LCAs, they rely on certain assumptions.
In addition, carbon emissions data reported by OEMs also varies widely, with manufacturing emissions for laptops ranging from 120 kg to 400 kg CO2e. These inconsistencies, combined with the absence of comprehensive public databases, make it difficult to assess the true impact of circular activities accurately.
At Foxway, we leverage the Handprint methodology to measure the positive environmental contributions of trading, collecting, selling, and reusing devices. While this approach is not without its limitations and relies on assumptions, it provides a practical and transparent framework for quantifying contributions to a circular economy.
2023 Highlights
In 2023, our handprint CO2 avoidance increased significantly due to growth in refurbished and repaired devices. These efforts, facilitated by our 500+ skilled craftswomen and -men, underscore our commitment to authentic sustainability.
Carbon Avoidance
(Handprint) Data
Foxway 2023 carbon avoidance data:
Average emissions avoidance per laptop: 252 kg CO2e.
Average emissions avoidance per mobile: 58 kg CO2e
Average emissions avoidance per tablet: 70 kg CO2e
The Bigger Picture
Avoidance data represents potential reductions rather than actual captured carbon and should be viewed as indicative rather than definitive. While extending the service life of devices lowers demand for new production, research shows “imperfect substitution,” meaning not every refurbished device prevents the production of a new one on a 1:1 basis. Despite these nuances, circularity and reuse remain essential for reducing the tech industry’s environmental footprint.
Degrowth, Resource
Efficiency &
Circular Economy
Contact Person: Stefan Nilsson
Degrowing the Industry
Foxway’s strategy to grow by degrowing the industry prioritizes sustainability over traditional linear growth. While scientific evidence supporting this approach is still evolving, our measures aim to drive meaningful impact:
1:1 Takeback Policy: Ensure every new device is matched by the takeback of an old one, enabling refurbishment and reuse.
Longevity Over Low-Cost: Avoid selling low-quality devices with short lifespans (e.g., 3-4 years), instead focusing on high-quality products lasting up to 12-15 years.
Promote As-a-Service Models: Provide fair pricing and transparent value management, avoiding myths around extending device lifespans to the point of obsolescence.
Repair and Refurbishment: Extend device lifecycles to reduce the demand for new production.
Sufficiency Approach: Advocate for responsible consumption, questioning unnecessary tech use and focusing on real needs rather than excessive consumer behavior.
Reducing Consumption
Foxway encourages consumers to rethink their purchasing habits and prioritize refurbished devices over new ones. This shift supports the degrowth movement by focusing on sustainability over consumerism. Key initiatives include:
Advocating against excessive tech use for children under 10, particularly in public schools.
Avoiding consumption-driven marketing tactics like “buy one, get one free” offers, unboxing experiences, and limited-time sales.
Encouraging a 1:1 exchange policy to ensure old devices are reused, discouraging unnecessary purchases such as "backup" devices.
Resource Conservation
The degrowth movement emphasizes reducing consumption and production to achieve ecological balance. Foxway aligns with this philosophy by focusing on refurbishing, repairing, and extending the life of electronic devices. Our end-to-end services—spanning as-a-service offerings, tech asset disposition, remarketing, refurbishment, and trade-in solutions—enable transparent and fair practices while supporting a functional circular economy.
For non-repairable devices, Foxway has implemented thorough dismantling processes to harvest spare parts and components, reducing the need for new materials. These parts are reused in our production or shared with other refurbishers, contributing to resource efficiency.