Environmental Impact

Repair.
Don't Replace.

Every time you repair instead of replace, you stop toxic waste from entering landfill, cut carbon emissions, save water, and refuse to fund a supply chain built on exploitation. It genuinely matters.

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The numbers

62M

tonnes

of e-waste generated globally in 2022, the heaviest year ever recorded

22%

only

of that e-waste is formally recycled. The rest gets dumped, burned, or shipped overseas

70kg

CO2

emitted to manufacture a single new smartphone, before it even leaves the factory

13,000L

water

consumed producing one phone. That is enough drinking water for 10 years

The crisis

We are producing e-waste faster than we can handle it.

In 2022, the world generated a record 62 million tonnes of electronic waste. To put that in perspective, it is equivalent to 1.1 million heavy trucks placed bumper to bumper, enough to circle the equator more than twice. The United Nations Global E-waste Monitor expects this to hit 82 million tonnes by 2030.

These are not old CRT televisions gathering dust. They are the devices people use every single day: smartphones, laptops, tablets, earbuds. Products designed, in many cases, to be hard to repair. Glued screens. Proprietary screws. Software locks that block third-party service.

The result is a system built around replacement rather than longevity, and the environmental cost of that is enormous.

Toxic landfill

Smartphones contain lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic. When they end up in landfill, and most do, these chemicals leach into soil and groundwater and poison ecosystems for decades. In informal recycling sites across West Africa and Southeast Asia, children burn circuit boards by hand to recover metals, breathing fumes that cause permanent neurological damage.

The mining behind your screen

Cobalt for the battery. Coltan for the processor. Lithium for power. These minerals are pulled out of some of the most ecologically sensitive and politically unstable places on earth. The Democratic Republic of Congo supplies over 70% of the world's cobalt, much of it mined by hand, often by children, in conditions that violate every basic standard of safety and dignity.

Carbon nobody talks about

Most of a phone's lifetime carbon footprint is already locked in before you ever turn it on. Mining, refining, manufacturing, and shipping account for roughly 80% of total emissions. Buying a new phone every two years keeps doubling that carbon cost. Repairing the device you already own produces up to 80% less carbon than building a replacement from scratch.

Water and land

Lithium mining in South America is draining aquifers beneath the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on earth and home to fragile saltflat ecosystems. Local Indigenous communities have watched their water supplies disappear so the world can upgrade to the latest model six months ahead of schedule.

The replacement cycle trap

The average Australian replaces their smartphone every 2.5 years. Not because it stopped working, but because a cracked screen or swollen battery made it feel broken. In almost every one of those cases, a repair costing a fraction of a new device would have added two or more years of life. Manufacturers know this. It's why repair has historically been made difficult by design.

Australia's own problem

Australia generates around 1.7 million tonnes of e-waste every year and has only a fraction of the infrastructure needed to deal with it. Our recycling rates remain among the lowest in the developed world. Much of what gets collected is exported, often legally but sometimes not, to countries with weaker environmental protections, where someone else pays the real cost.

Why repair works

Repair is not just cheaper. It is the right thing.

Fixing a cracked screen, a dying battery, or a broken charging port can add years to a device. That single decision has a real impact.

80%

less carbon produced when you repair a device instead of replacing it

4+ years

of extra life a quality battery replacement typically adds to a phone

1 in 3

phones thrown away in Australia still work or need only a minor fix

The most sustainable device is the one you already have.

You probably do not need a new phone. You just need your current one fixed. Venio technicians come to you the same day, anywhere in Sydney, and back their work with a 6-month warranty.

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Right to Repair

A movement worth supporting

The Right to Repair movement is pushing governments around the world to force manufacturers to make spare parts, tools, and repair manuals available to independent technicians and everyday consumers. The EU passed landmark legislation in 2024. The US has enacted state-level laws. Australia is actively reviewing its own framework.

Every repair you choose is a small vote for that future. It tells manufacturers that products need to be built to last, not just built to be replaced.

EU Right to Repair Directive enacted (2024)

Apple and Samsung now required to release parts to independent repairers

Australia reviewing mandatory repairability standards

iFixit Repairability Index shaping consumer purchasing decisions

Repair.Don't Replace.

We are producing e-waste faster than we can handle it.

Repair is not just cheaper. It is the right thing.

A movement worth supporting

Repair.
Don't Replace.