5 ways Techbuyer helps with Sustainable Procurement

Corporate Social Responsibility is not the unique preserve of corporates; the public sector is just as proactive, if not more so. Sustainable procurement policies are everywhere, ensuring our councils, universities and hospitals get the best value for money, provide the most benefit to wider society and are responsible for the least damage to the environment. These are all ideals we support as a company, and here is how we help achieve them.

1.      Environmentally friendly materials

With a large proportion of steel, aluminium and plastics, data centre IT hardware is costly to produce in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. The presence of other metals such as gold, copper and tin have other implications in terms of toxic chemical release at manufacture and destruction stage. This is a big reason why reuse of existing components using refurbished equipment is a plus for sustainable procurement. It saves up to 80% on RRP, and saves raw materials from being wasted in landfill.

2.      Whole life cost analysis

The equipment Techbuyer deals with - servers, storage and networking - is very hardwearing and has a shelf life that far exceeds typical refresh cycles. Upgrades in organisations’ data centres are often governed by changes in system requirement as IT needs evolve very quickly. This means that there is no reason why components removed from one area of a system cannot be used in another. It’s all about assessing requirement, which is why Techbuyer offers a configure-to-order service that designs upgrades according to the environment where they are going to be installed. Restored to as-new condition, exhaustively tested and with a three-year warranty, there is no compromise on quality. 

Techbuyer also sell new equipment where we feel it has value, including third party manufacturers like Prolabs, Finisar and Brocade. We are also a premium partner to Ortial Technologies, shortlisted as “One to Watch” for this year’s Storage Magazine Awards. With guaranteed compatibility in any system, these high quality components are a cost effective solution for upgrades and come with their own warranties.

3.      Ethical recycling

Many organisations are still unaware that a lot of IT equipment has a cash value to the right collection agency. Here at Techbuyer we offer cash returns on servers, storage and networking and we ensure that all equipment is data wiped using market leading data erasure software. We also are able to buy a much wider range of product than we stock – such as IP phones, laptops and PCs - because of our connection to ethical recyclers and refurbishment companies specialising in commercial equipment. 

4.      Supplier appraisal

Companies like Techbuyer have a sustainable core business model. Even better, they tend to attract people who believe in environmental principles. We make a real commitment to researching and implementing best practice when it comes to a circular economy, recycling and energy efficiency. We contribute to academic research as much as possible, join knowledge sharing platforms like the EURECA project and WRAP’s esap 2025 and publicise the benefits of reuse through trade organisations like the Data Centre Alliance.

5.      Positive impact on the economy

Techbuyer has grown rapidly in the past year or so, thanks to an increasing appetite for reuse and product life extension. We have been able to provide 40% more jobs over recent months, which gives us confidence that the refurbished sector is viable as a mainstream solution going forward. The jobs the refurbished sector provides are highly skilled, which is why academic studies have identified it [Limerick] as a high value sector.

For more information on how to design green data centres, the EURECA project is a great resource. The vendor neutral market directory of environmentally friendly data centre suppliers is available online at https://www.dceureca.eu/?page_id=4160