Joining the Discussion on Circular Economy

Techbuyer contributed to a research project run by the Sustainability Research Institute, University of Leeds on the 20th March. The focus of the study was to assess how firms change their business models to improve their sustainability performance.  

It was great to take part because we believe in taking an active role in discussion on sustainability and the circular economy at work. It also gave us the chance to learn more about circular economy and how we can apply it across the whole business, not just the products we buy and sell.

Thought sharing

Suzana Matoh, the post-graduate researcher carrying out the project, came to visit the Harrogate office for a tour of the facilities and an interview with myself and Tim Phillips, our Sales Director for the Commercial and Public Sector Division.

We explained how our processes keep servers, storage and networking in use for longer and what quality controls we put in place to make this possible and to encourage more organisations to consider refurbished equipment.

Reuse and product life extension are a big part of circular economy in the IT sector because of the amount of carbon used in the equipment manufacture and the pollution this creates. Suzana shared some great research on the detail for this, which made us even keener to promote reuse.

Finding out more about our products

According to the Journal on Industrial Ecology, servers contain on average around 40% steel, 15% aluminium and at least 3% plastics. They also contain significant amounts of metals such as copper and tin, and precious metals including gold.

Steel, aluminium and plastics are three of the five biggest culprits when it comes to industrial greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Manufacturing these three alone accounts for 32% of output. This is interesting to us at Techbuyer because it means that reusing the equipment, rather than sending to landfill or recycling, really helps reduce carbon output.

The manufacturing process for servers has a large environmental impact in other ways too. Leach residue created when gold and copper are mined and refined, as well as when integrated circuits are made, gives off toxic byproducts known as sulphidic tailings. When these are destroyed, toxic chemicals are released into the atmosphere that have been linked to cardio vascular disease and cancer.

When it comes to making data centres greener, the focus has traditionally been on energy use. However, research shows the next largest impact is a result of manufacturing and disposing of IT infrastructure, particularly servers. Techbuyer has always been positive about reuse as an option, but this kind of information was new to us and has given us even greater impetus to explore the circular economy.

Greening the business

We are currently looking at ways to expand on circular economy ideas within our business systems. Working towards ISO 14001 accreditation has been a great help within this area, but we would like to do more. Suzana was able to give us some practical help with this, including contacts for biodegradable plastics manufacturers and organisations that help companies exchange waste and byproducts. There is a world of information out there. We are looking forward to exploring it.