Carousell Group, the leading multi-category platform for secondhand in Greater Southeast Asia, released its inaugural Circular Economy Impact Report on 8 December 2023, showing that buying and selling secondhand items is a better choice for the planet compared to traditional retail of buying new items. The report, a first-of-its kind for e-commerce and recommerce marketplaces in Southeast Asia, quantifies the Avoided Carbon Emissions due to users purchasing secondhand items on three of the Groups’ marketplaces, in place of a new item.
Mr Gaurav Bhasin, Chief Strategy Officer, Carousell Group said, “By facilitating secondhand transactions, Carousell Group holds a central role in advancing the circular economy alongside our users in the Greater Southeast Asia region. As a key enabler of the circular economy in our region, we have a responsibility to lead by example and measure the potential positive impact of choosing secondhand products over new ones in a trustworthy and transparent way. In addition to the Avoided Emissions calculations, we have also taken the opportunity to calculate our Group’s Carbon Footprint. The robustness of our chosen methodology underscores our strong commitment to sustainability, and it forms the bedrock of our sustainability endeavours.”
To quantify our impact, Carousell partnered with Vaayu, a European climate tech company leveraging proprietary AI and machine learning technology and utilising its Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) database of over 600,000 product data points. As the initial phase of Carousell Group’s quantification journey, the scope of the report covers only the four goods categories of Carousell, Laku6 and REFASH. The Group is committed to progressively incorporating all remaining categories and integrating other Group brands Mudah.my, Chợ Tốt and OneShift within the scope in the coming years.
Ms Namrata Sandhu, Co-founder and CEO, Vaayu said, “Retail is responsible for 25% of global carbon emissions and with research continuing to show we’re not on track to keep global warming below 1.5C, we’re at a critical inflection point. Circular business models, like recommerce, offer a clear path to reducing retail’s impact on our planet, which is why we are so proud to partner with Carousell Group to quantify its climate impact and empower communications with its users.”
Besides the quantification of Avoided Emissions, the report also underscores the significance of every individual transaction in contributing to the overall circular economy impact. For instance, buying a secondhand sofa on Carousell can, on average, save up to 131 kg of Co2e, the equivalent of almost six trees absorbing Co2 per year.
As part of Carousell Group’s goal to accelerate the future of secondhand through recommerce, the Group’s marketplaces have been rolling out a variety of recommerce programmes and features across multiple platforms and markets this year. Mr Quek Siu Rui, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Carousell Group said, “Our mission is to make secondhand the first choice for everyone. We have stayed true to this mission over the past 11 years, and we remain committed to making selling and buying secondhand even simpler, more trusted and convenient. With the release of the report, we hope more people realise how easy it is to embrace secondhand as a lifestyle and contribute to a greener world, without compromising on the things they enjoy.”
Carousell Group is the leading multi-category platform for secondhand in Greater Southeast Asia on a mission to make secondhand the first choice. Founded in August 2012 in Singapore, the Group has a leading presence in seven markets under the brands Carousell, Carousell Media Group, Cho Tot, Laku6, Mudah.my, OneShift, REFASH and Revo Financial, serving tens of millions of monthly active users. Carousell is backed by leading investors including Telenor Group, Rakuten Ventures, Naver, STIC Investments, 500 Global and Peak XV Partners (formerly known as Sequoia Capital India). Visit here for more information.