The Hidden Cost of Our Devices
It’s obvious that a lot of us are addicted to technology. Each year, many of us get new laptops, smartphones and tablets without much consideration. That same year, the Global E-waste Monitor reported that we tossed out over 62 million tons of e-waste around the world. The majority of it is missing? Discarded as waste by burning, disposing of it underground or sending it where it harms the soil and living conditions. Things have been moving very fast in the tech field, but until not long ago, sustainability was not keeping up. This is now possible, thanks to the rise of circular IT.
Circular IT Is Actually about Innovating the Industry, Not Just Recycling
A lot of the time, being ecological in the tech industry means only making little changes such as sending items in cardboard or making carbon offset donations. It is much more radical than simply using IT again. It overturns the usual pattern of owning, making and disposing of goods. This recommends considering durability, repairability, reusing as much as you can and using materials more than once, rather than just keeping, using and getting rid of them.
Notice how Cisco is operating: they now guarantee product recovery and have transformed the refurbishment of used products into a large-scale service for sales or parts. By using the Daisy robot which dismantles iPhone models to recover rare earths, Apple is setting a significant example. Still, we can’t only focus on technology companies. Small and medium businesses and public organizations are starting to understand that circularity is the correct approach to their business activities.
From Landfills to Lifelines: Reuse Over Replacement
I’ll explain what happened with one of my clients. While working at a London-based marketing business as an IT consultant, I helped them transition from changing their computers every two years to getting certified pre-owned MacBooks and ThinkPads. Not only did we help the business avoid spending £28,000 last year, but gadget downtime decreased by 30% due to our testing and updating of the older models.
This is what it meant in action:
- They have entered contractual agreements with vendors such as HP Renew and Lenovo Circular Economy Solutions for asset recovery.
- Options for leasing devices, so they could be returned after two years and re-used rather than thrown away.
- Programs are used to trace e-waste and see how much carbon and materials are saved from start to finish of a device’s life cycle.
This change made the company more sustainable as well as more efficient.
Matters That Are Yet to Be Solved
Even so, we should be realistic. Circular use of IT is not simple to switch into. Data privacy is one of the biggest roadblocks when it comes to AI. A lot of companies are hesitant to use or sell old devices, worrying that data will still be accessible, even with files completely erased. Additionally, you can expect challenges from how materials are getting to you. Few manufacturers design their hardware to be disassembled easily. Most organizations have not embraced modularity.
Another issue? Cultural mindset. There is a strong belief in technology that newer products are better. I had a conversation with a CIO who revealed that their workers refused refurbished monitors even though the new ones were actually older than the ones they used currently. That’s a problem that cannot be solved purely with metrics.
A Global Momentum—But Also Local Impact
There is rapid growth in using Circular IT. The government in Germany requires all public organizations to favor the purchase of repaired tech and refurbed.de has observed a 65% year-to-year increase in B2B clients. Meanwhile, the French company Back Market which sells refurbished items, recently raised $400 million in Series E funding and aims to expand to the US market. What we are seeing really exists; it is not all theoretical.
What about the environmental situation in Canada? ComputerAid.org recently became a partner of our firm which involves transferring their refurbished help to schools in need across Africa from donated business computers. What used to be destined for a landfill is now used for rural schools.
To Sum up: This Matters More to Our Ethics Than to Our Gadgets
Technological advancements led to a big problem, but they can also solve it. Circular IT aims to preserve the environment, but even more importantly, it aims to preserve good procedures and principles in technology. Using something in a new way is a way to demonstrate resilience. Getting a server revamped is an act of defiance against the pointless cycle of new products.
The main innovation that year will not be foldable screens or AI agents. To help, we should focus on products that allow repair. Waste should be considered for something different and we must think differently about how we treat waste. Our technology should last beyond an announcement; we should aim to design in ways that help Nature.
Therefore, when you need an upgrade, question yourself: is it actually necessary to replace?