Technology has its impact in the increasing waste pile of the planet and now there are the beginnings of a circular economy to convert this from negative to positive.
Sport tech in isolation has a long development process with the vast majority of concepts falling at the first hurdle of pre-production more often due to lack of investment both financially and in marketplace research and development. Even during the product development phase, considerable use of materials and plastics are consumed for prototyping, packaging and assessment but this is a necessary part of the process.
Once tech has been proven for concept and fit for purpose, production begins and manufacturing essentially chooses the cheapest options using virgin materials for mouldings and casing plus a lot of raw materials for reachable batteries and consumables too. There are opportunities at this stage for manufacturers to consider great reusable resources for production and ensure components are made from recyclable materials too and reduce packaging to the minimum.
The reality is that most products are manufactured from very robust materials and for long-term use in the field so why don’t we see hardware surviving for decades and many companies offering 3-to-5-year upgrades and replacement terms on their systems?
In the majority of circumstances, profit is made from the software and subscription rather than the asset purchase of the hardware. Most systems today can have firmware and software updated remotely or via simple return-to-base services, but this isn’t as profitable as selling a replacement system.
Wellmart.life has come up with a simple, effective solution to spin the wheel on a true circular economy for technologies and their users on a global scale by offering “pre-loved” hardware systems to the marketplaces often missed due to lack of initial budget while ensuring latest tech remains absorbed by the elite organisations. This ensures a constant flow of new product sales and solutions by tech companies and ongoing software subscriptions, albeit at reduced levels, to a 2nd tier of customer in the used market.
Founder Graham Dudley does not state this as rocket-science but does empathise with community users who desire the ability to have technologies but cannot afford the huge ongoing financial commitments to support their athletes and members.
“This service is no different than part exchanging your car for a new model at a dealer. Wellmart.life acts as the dealer and organises the new system and the opportunity to take old hardware or sell it on to a huge customer base.” Says Graham Dudey.
Wellmart.life is actively seeking entrepreneurial technology manufacturers to align with, who have the foresight to expand their customer base enormously while presenting innovation to the broader community too. Additionally, the business is opening up to schools, sporting clubs and Universities who might have working product sitting gathering cobwebs in cupboards to organise upgrades and recycling.
