The past few years have been big for sustainability. We’ve finally woken up to the environmental dangers of, well, everything – meat, single-use plastics, air travel, fast fashion, you name it.

But while we’ve been bulk buying oat milk and donning parkas made out of recycled plastic bottles, we have remained conveniently blind to the damaging impact of our shiny new iPhones.

Not only do they produce a staggering amount of e-waste (less than 1% of smartphones are actually recycled), but the vast majority of their environmental impact comes from production, not use – buying one new smartphone uses as much energy as using & charging one for a decade.

Point is, our hunger for the latest and greatest in tech is killing our planet.  

And this is where Back Market comes in. It’s on a mission to clean up the dirty world of tech, by challenging the disposable way we buy and use electronics.

There’s always been a certain ick-factor to buying second-hand tech, with most resale sites offering Vantablack levels of transparency. Apparently ‘like new’ is open to considerable interpretation, prices are inconsistent, and there’s no guarantee your purchase will last longer than the first charge. No wonder 80% of Americans say they wouldn’t ever consider buying a second-hand smartphone, in large part due to mistrust.

So Back Market is overhauling the second-hand buying process, by acting as the slick face for hundreds of refurbishment companies worldwide.

For a 10% commission on all sales, Back Market ensures rigorous quality standards (all gadgets must pass a 23 point test), provides some transparency to customers on what they’re actually getting (you can buy products ranging from ‘mint to ‘Stallone’ and everything comes with a year-long warranty) and offers a user experience that aims to be as quick & easy as buying from the Apple Store.

But crucially, through its irreverent tone and slick visual identity, Back Market has transformed buying second-hand from being second-best – and perpetually focused on value – into a point of pride.

So if sustainability was ‘big’ in 2019, it will be meteoric in 2020.

And while Back Market has been successful in Europe (and is growing in the US), it will be interesting to see how it fairs as some of the big boys start to dabble in refurbished tech. Giffgaff in the UK is one of the first carriers to take refurbished phones seriously, but it certainly won’t be the last. We’ll just have to see whether Back Market’s message of ‘refurb and proud’ can weather a little more competition.

Kirstin Piening is a Strategist at eatbigfish – a strategic brand consultancy specialising in challenger thinking and behaviour.