Millions of people across the globe use online marketplaces to buy and sell second-hand goods every day, contributing to the circular economy and benefiting the environment. However, how much material and greenhouse gas emissions (CO2e) can potentially be saved through second-hand trade if each second-hand product replaces the production of a new one?

The report looks at how much CO2e and materials have potentially been saved through second-hand trade on participating marketplaces. The calculations are based on the idea that keeping a second-hand item in use means avoiding the production of a new item and disposal of the old item, which translates to savings in CO2e and amount of plastic, aluminum and steel.

Altogether, people potentially saved 25.3 million tonnes of CO2e by buying and selling on the marketplaces in 2019. The project also explored the materials used to manufacture the goods sold on the marketplaces in 2019, and calculated how much new plastic, steel and aluminium did not need to be produced as a result of this second-hand trade. In 2019 users potentially saved: 1.5 million tonnes plastics, 9.5 million tonnes steel and 0.9 million tonnes aluminium.