Planning our
next page

Tech needs to
change.

So do we.

Technology companies account for around 3-4% of the world’s carbon emissions, on par with the aviation industry. This information, combined with a recent Google Cloud survey in which 72% of the VP and C-Suite executives questioned, feared most organizations in their industry would be caught greenwashing if investigated thoroughly - illustrates a very real problem, and we have to do something today.

Instead of making another bold but hard to believe sustainability claim, however, we thought we’d try something different.

Here’s where we are, and what we’re doing:

Being honest

The consumer electronics industry isn’t anywhere near transparent enough when it comes to sustainability. We want to change that.

We’re not perfect, but we think being upfront about the challenges tech companies face and how we’re tackling them is better than pretending we’ve got it all figured out.

If you want to skip straight to the data, here it is.

Link to our numbers

Fixing the problem at the source

Most of our emissions stem from the manufacturing of components that go in our paper tablets. This is a tough one, because it's near impossible to build a modern device without them.

Below, you'll see a breakdown of the carbon footprint for each reMarkable 2.

Total product carbon footprint: 53 kg CO2e/unit

Emissions by category: production hotspots

80%

production

18%

transportation

usage

We're working on a new way to build tech for thinking, changing the nature of individual components so we can keep innovating without damaging the environment.

Learn more

Breathing new life into our products

Fortunately, you don't need a new reMarkable every year. Over 100 software updates have launched since 2016 with a long list of new features that keep improving our devices. We’re able to either repair, and or refurbish 97% of the paper tablets that come back to us, which greatly reduces e-waste.

100+

Software updates

59%

Returns refurbished

38%

Returns repaired

The packaging reMarkable ships with is also 100% recyclable, as it should be. Nevertheless, we think there’s still plenty of room for improvement.

Learn more

Treating people fairly

While reMarkable is designed in Norway, it’s our supply chain partners throughout the world who manufacture, test, and deliver devices into the hands of our customers.

It’s one thing to say we believe in treating people fairly, but we’d like to go a step further and talk more specifically about the social context of creating technology for better thinking.

Learn more

Planning for
real results

We’re excited about confronting the challenges ahead. These are critical problems the technology industry needs to solve for the world to meet its climate goals.

Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to make bold statements, and ambitious sustainability promises, because they’re great at directing attention away from solving real problems and shifting the spotlight somewhere else.

So we’re holding fire for now, until we have more to share.

Sustainability glossary

Sustainability is an ideal way of operating where development and resource use are seen in an “eternal” perspective — meaning that if you continue to operate in this way for eternity, you'll never run out of resources. There are typically three legs of sustainability: economical, social, and environmental (including climate). All of these resources have to be positive for operations to be truly sustainable. This interpretation of sustainability comes from the 1987 Brundtland Report, which outlined development that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
In our current economy, we take materials from the earth, make products from them, and eventually throw them away as waste — the process is linear. In a circular economy, by contrast, we stop waste being produced in the first place.
The circular economy allows us to decouple economic activity from the consumption of finite resources. It transforms every element of our take-make-waste system: how we manage resources, how we make and use products, and what we do with the materials afterwards.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are emissions of gases contributing to climate change through negatively impacting the greenhouse effect. The Kyoto Protocol identifies seven GHG gasses:
carbon dioxide (CO2)
methane (CH4)
nitrous oxide (N2O)
hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
perfluorocarbons (PFCs)
sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)
nitrogen trifluoride (NF3)

The Norwegian Transparency Act shall promote enterprises' respect for fundamental human rights and decent working conditions in connection with the production of goods and the provision of services and ensure the general public access to information regarding how enterprises address adverse impacts on fundamental human rights and decent working conditions.
In more practical terms, companies covered by the act are required to assess their entire value chain for actual and potential adverse impact on human rights and working conditions. The companies also need to take measures to cease, prevent, or mitigate adverse impacts.
Net zero is the concept of eliminating a carbon footprint by cutting greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible and offsetting the rest. For a company to claim to be net-zero, it must reduce its scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% by 2030 and 90-95% by 2050, follow annual plans to reach those reduction goals, and take action if the goals aren’t reached.
The Science Based Targets initiative’s (SBTi) Corporate Net-Zero Standard is a globally recognized standard for achieving net zero.
Scope 1 emissions are direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that occur from sources that are controlled or owned by an organization, such as emissions from boilers, furnaces, and vehicles.
Scope 2 emissions are indirect GHG emissions associated with the purchase of electricity, steam, heating, or cooling. Although scope 2 emissions physically occur at the facility where they’re generated, they’re accounted for in an organization’s GHG inventory because they’re a result of the organization’s energy use.
Scope 3 emissions are the result of activities from assets not owned or controlled by the reporting organization, but that the organization indirectly affects in its value chain.

Tell us what you think

We’d love some input.
Your feedback can really help us develop how we talk about sustainability.

Give feedback

Planning our
next page

Tech needs to
change.

So do we.

Being honest

Fixing the problem at the source

Breathing new life into our products

Treating people fairly

Planning for
real results

Sustainability glossary

Sustainability

Circularity

Social impact

GHG Emissions

Global Warming Potential

Transparency

Refurbishment

Norwegian Transparency Act

Renewable energy

Carbon footprint

Carbon offset

Net zero

Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions

Tell us what you think

Planning our next page

Tech needs to change.

So do we.

Being honest

Fixing the problem at the source

Breathing new life into our products

Treating people fairly

Planning for real results

Sustainability glossary

Sustainability

Circularity

Social impact

GHG Emissions

Global Warming Potential

Transparency

Refurbishment

Norwegian Transparency Act

Renewable energy

Carbon footprint

Carbon offset

Net zero

Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions

Tell us what you think

Planning our
next page

Tech needs to
change.

Planning for
real results