Finding Answers: Techbuyer Becomes an Associate Partner on Three Year CEDaCI Project

We are excited to announce that we are now an Associate Partner in the three year CEDaCI (Circular Economy in the Data Centre Industry) project led by London South Bank University. This ground-breaking project aims to find quantifiable answers on big topics within the data centre industry, including the breakdown of materials within servers, in order to extend the product life of IT hardware and reduce the use of virgin materials.

Techbuyer will be contributing its expertise in server refurbishment, repair and reconfiguration as well as supplying equipment to the CEDaCI project for lab analysis in the UK.

“When we were invited to take part in the CEDaCI project, we jumped at the chance,” said Astrid Wynne, Sustainability Manager at Techbuyer. “It will provide answers to questions we have been asking ourselves for a long time and pave the way for a more circular approach to data centre IT hardware. Materials use is a hot topic in the data centre sector. With so much good work having been done on the energy side and renewables, it is a good time to look at what can be done to reduce manufacture from mined materials and close the loop on the supply chain.”

We will be working closely with academics, non-profits, manufacturers and consultancies across the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands in order to develop a decision-making tool for data centre professionals. There is still space to join this network, which businesses and organisations can apply for until September 2020.

"The challenge of developing a sectoral Circular Economy is enormous and can only be addressed by sharing knowledge about all aspects of the data centre industry,” said Dr Deborah Andrews, project lead and Associate Professor of Design at the School of Engineering at London South Bank University. “The CEDaCI project is a unique opportunity to bring together academics and industry experts representing all product life cycle stages (including design, manufacture, refurbishment, reuse and recycling at end-of-life) as well as associated activities ranging from data centre commissioning and operation to materials processing and reclamation.”

“Collaborating with Techbuyer is great and their support is really beneficial to the project and to them because they are making useful connections and learning from experts across the sector. If you would like to learn more, benefit from the project and connect with colleagues across the sector you can join the CEDaCI Network.


At Techbuyer, we have over a decade of experience in the buying, selling and refurbishing of data centre equipment. We are committed to creating a more sustainable IT industry by refurbishing IT hardware, reducing e-waste and contributing to research that explores how to keep technology in use for as long as possible. You can find out more about our refurbishment process here.