Seventeen times more CO₂e emissions could be avoided through resale
In recent years, the Swiss online secondhand market has become an important driver for sustainable consumption and climate protection. In 2024, an estimated 166,368 tonnes of CO₂e emissions were avoided. These were attributable to online secondhand retail in Switzerland and correspond to 1.8% of the annual consumption footprint of Swiss households. This is confirmed by a recent analysis carried out by SMG Swiss Marketplace Group in collaboration with Vaayu. The analysis also shows that there is still a lot of room for improvement in this area: unused items worth around CHF 16 billion are thought to be languishing in Swiss households, representing immense climate-savings potential. If all the unused items in Swiss households were resold and reused, the potentially avoided emissions could be around 17 times higher than today, or 30.6% of the annual consumption footprint.
The growing secondhand market is a real climate lever. High purchasing power, digital penetration and a strong sustainability awareness are increasingly driving growth in Switzerland’s online secondhand sector. In 2024, digital secondhand retail prevented an estimated 166,368 tonnes of CO₂e emissions in Switzerland, which corresponds to around 1.8% of the annual consumption footprint of Swiss households. These are the findings of a recent analysis carried out on behalf of SMG Swiss Marketplace Group as part of this year’s Secondhand Day in collaboration with Vaayu. The analysis is based on a study issued by McKinsey & Company in July 2025, publications by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) and a study prepared by Vaayu in collaboration with SMG that calculates the potentially avoided greenhouse emissions of the SMG marketplaces Ricardo, tutti.ch and anibis.ch in the 2024 Avoided Emissions Report. The latest analysis by Vaayu comprehensively quantifies for the first time the extent to which Swiss online secondhand retail contributes to preventing CO₂e emissions. To calculate the potentially avoided greenhouse gas emissions, the transaction volumes of nine leading Swiss secondhand platforms were analysed. The study focused on consumer goods categories such as children & baby, electronics, fashion & accessories, household & living, leisure, and sports & hobbies.
Reselling unused items: 17 times more one-off greenhouse gas emissions could potentially be avoided
The latest analysis by SMG and Vaayu shows that the greenhouse gas emissions avoided by online secondhand trading in 2024 correspond to an estimated 1.8% of the annual consumption footprint of Swiss households, based on the expenditure of all Swiss households in 2021 (reference: FSO). It’s a remarkable number with plenty of room for improvement. The analysis also reveals that there is currently immense potential for the resale of unused, still functional items in Swiss households. According to the McKinsey study, which served as the basis for SMG and Vaayu’s analysis, every Swiss household has unused goods worth an average of CHF 4,000. Vaayu calculates and correlates this value to the following potential climate impact: the potentially avoidable emissions from unused items – i.e. if Swiss households resold these items, thereby allowing them to replace the purchase of new products – corresponded to around 30.6% (2.8 million tonnes of CO₂e) of the annual consumption footprint of Swiss households in 2024. In other words, if all the unused items in Swiss households were resold and reused, the estimated annual consumption footprint of 1.8% could be multiplied by a factor of 17 to 30.6%.
Forecast: 10% higher CO2e savings potential by 2029
The online marketplace study by McKinsey & Company, used as the basis for the current analysis, assumes that the transaction volume of Swiss online secondhand marketplaces will continue to grow by 3% annually. Based on this, online secondhand consumption in Switzerland could potentially avoid 183,209 tonnes of CO₂e emissions in 2029, representing an increase of 10% compared to 2024. This savings potential only reflects the estimated pure market growth (excluding additional changes in consumer behaviour or production optimisations such as decarbonisation of production in China).
In addition to this purely estimated market growth, Vaayu’s analysis also incorporates potential lasting changes in consumer behaviour, leading to the following scenario by 2029: if the share of secondhand purchases that actually replace new products (replacement rate) gradually rises from 53% to 60% by 2029, this could prevent 23% more greenhouse gas emissions compared to the forecast, which is based solely on market growth. This would mean that every one percentage point increase in the replacement rate leads to over 3% more emissions avoided.
SMG as a partner of Secondhand Day
The analysis produced by SMG in collaboration with Vaayu as part of this year’s national Secondhand Day on Saturday, 8 November 2025 reveals how small changes in consumer behaviour can have a real impact on the climate. “The results of the latest analysis are impressive and motivate us to further increase the hidden secondhand market and global warming potential in Switzerland with our online marketplaces Ricardo, tutti.ch and anibis.ch. By developing new technologies such as ‘Ricardo AI’ and continuously improving the security of our platforms, we strive to lower the barriers to resale and reuse in order to make a real contribution to the circular economy in Switzerland,” says Jessica List, Chief Corporate Officer at SMG. SMG is supporting this year’s Secondhand Day as a partner. This annual day of action was launched in 2020 by Ricardo, myclimate and Circular Economy Switzerland.
To the analysis “The Avoided Emissions from Switzerland’s Online Second-Hand Marketplaces”
Measurement methodology
Vaayu’s methodology for calculating avoided emissions follows a consistent life-cycle assessment approach in accordance with the World Resources Institute (WRI) guidelines. Vaayu compares a reference scenario – the entire life cycle of a new product until it reaches the consumer – with a secondhand scenario. A replacement rate is applied to reflect the proportion of secondhand purchases that actually replace the purchase of a new product. Emissions resulting from resale (e.g. logistics, packaging and operations) are also taken into account.
Sources:
- McKinsey & Company: Unlocking Switzerland’s potential: The rise of online marketplaces
- Federal Statistical Office: Greenhouse gas footprint of households by expenditure
- SMG Swiss Marketplace Group: Avoided Emissions Report 2024
Michelle Gehri
Corporate Communication Manager