In 2020, the Swedish speaker manufacturer, Audio Pro began a collaboration with another Swedish company GIAB, an innovative company that gives products new life through circular economy principles. Products returned to Audio Pro for any reason are reviewed by GIAB, reconditioned and condition-graded before they are returned to the market again. In this way, a product can get a new life without being thrown away.
Jens Henriksen, CCO at Audio Pro, reflects on working with GIAB for a year. He says proudly; “We received a sustainability report from GIAB which stated that together, we were able to extend the life of 333 products. Of all the products we have sent to GIAB, all but 4 have been reusable. This results in an environmental saving of at least 40 tonnes of CO2 and 20 tonnes of waste.” This is equivalent to 4 Swedes' total annual CO2 emissions and 40 Swedes' household waste production per year. "This is a massive improvement," continues Jens Henriksen, "given that we are still only in the middle of the project, and that in the long run, we will increase our work further with recycling and sustainability. We expect that in the long run, we will be able to make an even greater positive environmental impact.”
Andreas Anderholm Pedersen, Head of Sustainability at GIAB explains; "A growing young generation of consumers are becoming more aware of climate and sustainability, which creates increased demands on e-commerce companies, such as Audio Pro. The conscious consumer demands transparency consistently and a brand's popularity and competitive advantages can be rapidly diminished if return management is not handled resource-efficiently. Returns can no longer be handled carelessly by letting products travel long distances abroad, or discarded. And we are happy that Audio Pro has chosen to start working with us to counteract such a waste of resources.”
