Who we are Each year in Denmark, over 2 million people upgrade their smartphones, but few have a clear idea of what to do with their previous device. Of course, they could sell it or trade it in, but today these options are primarily perceived as a hassle, a scam, or a waste of time. This results in Danes often having two or more smartphones wasting in a dusty drawer. Our mission to reduce this waste and to make the best use of their potential by providing a transparent, fair, and simple way to ensure that our old technology gets used to its fullest extent. The user can then support sustainable causes through our platform with the value of their used phones. Why do we exist? Used phones are extremely valuable. In fact, every year we estimate that at least one billion kroner worth of used phones enters the market in Denmark alone. On top of this, smartphone production has tremendous environmental and social impacts that are seldom talked about. Making the best use of minerals and labor that has already been put into our phones is the least we can do. Through research, we found that most people do not sell or trade-in their devices today for various reasons. However, over 90% of people responded that they would donate the value that their used phone could be sold for, entirely or in part, to philanthropic causes so long as it was easy and transparent. Therefore, not only are the causes we support genuinely good, but they provide the motivation to awaken a large and growing market. Today there is no platform where this can easily be done. Lokalist aims to fill this gap in the market and be the platform where people and businesses can easily donate all or part of the value of their used technology to support sustainable actions we all want to see more of. What happens to the used phones? The used phones we receive are safely wiped, complying with Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). They then have a 92% chance to be refurbished or harvested for working components. The semi-new phones are sold in markets across the world to be loved by future users. The phones that cannot be refurbished are responsibly recycled, making sure to reuse minerals that are otherwise impactful to mine. Our values As a company, we focus heavily on integrating the Nordic values of transparency, honesty, community, and simplicity into our mission. This is not typical of our competitors in this space. By being active in the carrying-out of the sustainable causes with our partners, and showing our users instantly how their device could support them, we believe we can help make the best use of our e-waste while spreading the love.