• Usage models can provide a huge boost to green IT strategies
• IT usage models can lower carbon emissions by more than 50 percent
• IT usage models can reduce the consumption of valuable resources by up to two-thirds

“Approaching IT procurement with a usage-based focus aligns with current market requirements such as containing costs and reducing the consumption of scarce resources. Both of these objectives play a key role in driving the transition to more sustainable business practices. Consequently, usage models are the way forward.”

For the first green IT study commissioned by CHG-MERIDIAN, VITO prepared model calculations of the environmental footprint of smartphones, laptops, and desktop PCs in different usage scenarios (purchase, leasing, DaaS). The study found that a DaaS (rental) model with successive usage cycles until the equipment reaches the end of its useful life can bring down the carbon emissions associated with devices such as smartphones by more than half. The consumption of raw materials can be reduced by as much as two-thirds compared with a purchase model under which most devices are not remarketed.  

Refurbishing and remarketing IT assets even just once after their first usage cycle has a significant effect: Extending the asset’s period of use means that the carbon emissions associated with its total lifespan are reduced by more than a third. This is because, under a DaaS or leasing model, the leasing or rental provider takes the IT assets back at the end of the first period of use, refurbishes them, and reintroduces them to the market. As a result, fewer new devices need to be produced. In this context, it is important to bear in mind that a large proportion of the carbon emissions associated with IT assets are generated during their production. The green IT study shows that 76 percent of the carbon footprint of a smartphone is attributable to the production process.

In 2019, only 24 of the EU’s 27 member states met their targets for the collection of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). As a result, up to 4.8 million tonnes of materials were not captured by reuse and recycling schemes. By means of regulation, legislators are primarily forcing companies to reduce these waste volumes and comply with increasingly stringent sustainability requirements, e.g. in connection with the European Green Deal and the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG), which comes into force in Germany at the start of 2023. This puts additional pressure on many businesses. In a challenging economic environment, they have to manage sharp increases in costs, especially for energy, while also investing in their IT infrastructure in order to go digital.