We catch up with Magnus Gravem from reMarkable to chat about ethics, sustainability and how he aims to integrate this into his current work.

Who are we talking to?

Magnus Gravem, VP Sustainability in reMarkable

Is it a logical journey to what you are doing now?

Yes, from a certain point onward, my path has been clear. I always knew I wanted to work in business ethics and for a company with the potential to make a real impact. After several years as a sustainability consultant, reMarkable was the rare opportunity I'd been searching for. A Norwegian hardware company focused on helping people cut through distractions resonated with my professional ambitions and commitment to minimalism. When I fully understood the reMarkable vision of 'better thinking', and how sustainability could be embedded at its core, I knew this was a place where I could make a real difference.

Sustainability and ethics with Magnus Gravem, reMarkable

You began by studying religion, did you see yourself working in the field that you are now in?

When I chose my master's thesis, I already knew I wanted to work with business ethics - at a time when dedicated sustainability programs didn't exist, so I had to carve my own path. I found it fascinating that, across cultures, ethical principles often lead to the same outcomes even if the reasoning differs. That insight still shapes how I approach sustainability today. To succeed with sustainability, it needs to be intertwined with business, and vice versa. It has to be built in, not bolted on. What I did not know at the time, however, was that in a few years I would be working in a company defining the paper tablet category.

What are you currently working on?

Recently, much of our focus has been on the reMarkable Paper Pro Move - our most sustainable product yet. With its recent launch, we've taken major steps forward, pioneering the use of recycled materials, significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving repairability, and ensuring superior product longevity.

The results speak for themselves: The Paper Pro Move contains 20% recycled content by weight, with key materials like the rare earths in the magnets and the cobalt in the batteries being 100% recycled, and we've achieved a 27% reduction in GHG emissions compared to a scenario without active improvement efforts.

With Paper Pro Move, we've designed for repair, refurbishment, and recycling from the ground up - supporting a circular product lifecycle. Our refurbishment program, active since 2019, gives returned devices a second life with the same warranty as new. The separate backplate makes it easy for the experts at our assembly site to replace or repair most of the internal components, like the battery or even the circuit board. We're also expanding regional refurbishment in Asia, Europe, and the US to extend product lifespans globally. These steps ensure long-term value is built into every reMarkable device.

For us, sustainability isn't a one-off project but an ongoing commitment, built into how we design and develop technology.

What sustainability strategies are you working on implementing at reMarkable?

At the core of our efforts is our circularity strategy, which ties together product design, new business models, and operational practices. A key part of this is our product sustainability strategy, which turns the ambitions of circularity into concrete actions in product design and development. This strategy helps us extend product lifespans, expand circular services, and make responsible material choices.

Alongside this, we're implementing policies across our supply chain to protect human rights, secure decent working conditions, and address climate impact in a measurable way.

We take a holistic approach, including key areas such as climate, circularity, and people. Everything we do is guided by risk-, opportunity-, and impact-based assessments so that our relatively small sustainability team can deliver outsized results.

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