Role of Refurbished Hardware in Boosting Sustainability - CXtec

Enterprises are increasingly shifting their focus towards sustainable and green initiatives, especially when implementing, managing, and maintaining their IT infrastructure, including servers, storage hardware, and networking equipment.

 While manufacturers often encourage companies to upgrade to the latest IT hardware and discard the defective or end-of-life (EOL) assets, constant hardware manufacturing, material production, and replacement can wreak significant environmental havoc. Not to forget, improper and ecologically irresponsible IT asset disposal contributes to the growing electronic or e-waste issue. This further leads to a rise in the overall carbon footprint. According to a report by the World Economic Forum, the amount of e-waste generated will reach a whopping 120 million metric tons annually by 2050.

As a result, companies are turning to refurbished IT hardware as it helps maximize the value and efficiency of the hardware by extending its lifespan. This increase in the hardware lifecycle enables organizations to use their legacy assets well beyond the end-of-service-life (EOSL) dates, thereby reducing the devastating environmental impact of unnecessary asset disposal and replacement. Leveraging refurbished IT hardware further helps enterprises contribute to the circular economy that focuses on reusing finite resources, keeping harmful emissions to a minimum, and reducing waste. 

Key Environmental Benefits of Buying Refurbished IT Hardware

For the uninitiated, refurbished assets refer to used or old IT equipment that is carefully inspected, repaired, tested, and certified to ensure it operates as smoothly as the new hardware. A majority of refurbished IT hardware gets covered by a third-party maintenance (TPM) vendor and offers significant cost-savings, in addition to environmental advantage. Let’s look at how investing in refurbished hardware helps enterprises become more sustainable. 

• Reduces Carbon Footprint: Several components of IT equipment (e.g., servers, computers, storage hardware, data communication hardware, networking assets, etc.) are constructed using core minerals and rare earth elements. These raw materials are tough to process and consume massive amounts of energy during manufacturing which, in turn, releases harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The continuous manufacturing of IT hardware also produces enormous amounts of unwanted toxic waste and pollutants as by-products that can be highly detrimental to air, soil, and water. Additionally, shipping hardware parts for final assembly to different locations contributes to heavy environmental pollution. As refurbished hardware eliminates the need for energy-intensive hardware manufacturing, it lowers the overall carbon footprint and makes it a more sustainable choice for organizations. 
• Lowers Electronic Waste: Unnecessary and premature disposal of IT hardware increases electronic waste. Companies are often quick to dispose of hardware deemed legacy, EOL, or faulty and upgrade to the latest equipment recommended by many OEMs. However, a large portion of such hardware ends up in landfills that expose the environment to harmful chemicals and heavy metals, including mercury, cadmium, lead, chromium, etc., found in IT equipment. When companies invest in refurbished IT equipment, they not only extend the hardware life cycle,  improve efficiency, and boost IT cost-savings but significantly reduce the amount of e-waste generated. 
• Minimizes Global Demand: Mining raw materials from earth for IT hardware production requires a lot of labor, energy, and resources. This, in turn, creates a hefty burden on the environment and disrupts the ecological balance. Refurbished hardware focuses on improving the lifespan of the hardware. It delivers the same performance and efficiency as new hardware produced by OEMs. This helps reduce the global demand for new IT hardware and minimizes the impact of raw material mining on the environment. 

How Does CXtec Help Companies Meet Sustainability Goals

While buying refurbished hardware is a sustainable approach to IT infrastructure, it’s crucial to choose a reputable partner that efficiently provides best-in-class and certified refurbished hardware to meet business needs. With over 40 prosperous years as a leader in the industry, CXtec has been helping its customers adopt green IT practices and achieve their IT goals with a wide range of services. equal2new® by CXtec is a premier brand of certified pre-owned IT hardware that helps maximize the value of hardware investment and promotes sustainability with high-quality and reliable refurbished hardware. It offers a vast inventory of top brands in stock and ready-to-ship products. Every hardware unit undergoes stringent quality testing to ensure optimal performance comparable to OEM standards. With equal2new, customers benefit from 40% to 90% off list prices, lifetime warranty with advance replacement, and a 99.51% reliability rating. 

Moreover, CXtec offers Hardware End-of-Life Management (HELM) service to responsibly dispose of unneeded IT assets in a way that ensures data protection, delivers maximum ROI, and protects the environment. It leverages environmentally responsible tactics to help companies decommission their retired IT assets, prevent litigation, and boost sustainability. Recycling is a crucial part of HELM service. A knowledgeable partner like CXtec provides companies with a highly compliant R2-certified recycling solution for IT hardware with zero re-marketable value. 

Achieve environmental sustainability across your IT infrastructure with CXtec. For more information, contact us today.