Improve performance.
Reduce impact. Our solutions.

For the past 12 years, we’ve advised organisations around the world on how to be measurably more sustainable with their use of IT.

We’ve delivered resilient IT solutions in some of the most demanding environments and provided confidence in an uncertain world.

Our approach, solutions and supply chains mitigate global shortages, reduce waste and positively impact stakeholder value. Our goal is to reduce the environmental impact of your IT while increasing ROI, reducing risk, improving resilience and enhancing brand reputation.

Tackling global problems with sustainable IT

Our solutions take into account the major challenges that IT faces today.

Global problem: CO2

The amount of carbon dioxide (and other greenhouse gases) in the atmosphere is the biggest risk to life on our planet.

IT can represent up to 15-20% of an organisation’s total footprint.

Our approach

It’s estimated that up to 80% of IT’s carbon footprint is in the manufacture and transportation of the products.

We identify what an organisation already has that can be used for longer.

Global problem: Scarcity of resources

There is a scarcity of many natural raw materials we need to create IT hardware. We’re already experiencing a chip shortage caused by a global pandemic and climate change. Resource scarcity will push up prices and extend lead times. Eventually we will run out.

Our approach

The only way to ensure these resources remain available is to keep them in use.

Sustainable supply chains where we use what we have for longer, must be built into procurement processes, and with planned recovery. Non-new supply chains provide protection from shortages and protect resources for future generations.

Global problem: eWaste

The world’s fastest growing waste stream is not only toxic to humans and our planet, but also contains the very materials that we’re running out of.

Society throws away over 50m tonnes per year. This is expected to double by 2050.

Our approach

The average lifespan of IT in an organisation is 3-5 years.

For most IT equipment, there’s a customer somewhere who can use the technology other organisations no longer need.

Not letting your IT become waste and selling it to another organisation prevents waste. We can help you do that.

How do we help you?
Our advisory services.

After an initial exploratory call, we’ll sit down to understand your goals with both your IT and sustainability strategies in mind.
1
 Review
2
 Recommend
3
 Report…

We’ll spend time to understand and consider your existing physical IT infrastructure; review the processes that touch IT (including procurement, how you use IT, both in physical devices but also data); and we’ll look at disposal. We’ll help you to understand what you have and provide a market valuation for assets you no longer need.

We’ll make recommendations based on your goals and provide immediate solutions to get started. We’ll seek to deliver the capability you need with resilience, best ROI and measurable sustainable impact.

We might provide a far-reaching recommendation to deliver a circular economy for IT in your organisation. And we’ll bring your team along on the journey, engaging with CEOs, IT Directors, and Sustainability Professionals. 

We don’t provide answers then walk away. Yes, there will be some quick wins, but meaningful change happens with consistent focus over time. We’ll help quantify your journey. Documenting your learnings and successes for stakeholders. 

The Eight R’s. Our product solutions for more sustainable IT

Our services and products work best when used together as a joined-up solution, but we can work directly to integrate remanufactured, refurbished, or reused equipment into existing networks. Whilst we are Cisco’s leading Circular Economy Partner, we’re platform agnostic and supply authorised remanufactured IT equipment from the world’s leading manufacturers.
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
R6
R7
R8
Reduce Design
Reduce Need
Remanufacture
Refurbish
Reuse
Repair
Repurpose
Recycle

Reduce by design

Covers technical solutions, supply chain and logistics strategies, implementation and migration, in-life usage and maintenance, data use and consumption models, planning for end of use, asset recovery, and next use. 

Benefits

Optimised solutions for resilience, sustainability and value.

Example: Daiwa Capital Markets

Designed, implemented, migrated, and supported a data centre based on sustainable IT. “meticulously planned and executed without incident”

Reduce need

Both quick wins and long-term gains can be made by extending the life of IT and reducing the need for new equipment. Most IT platforms can be safely extended and capacity increased using trusted technology at a fraction of the replacement cost. 

Benefits

Increased ROI for existing assets, free up capital for accelerating digital transformation, and reduce eWaste.

Example: Ministry of Defence

We extended the life and increased the capacity of technology across seven datacentres, saving $15m in replacement costs and thousands of kilograms of eWaste.  

Remanufacture

If you need an IT solution to provide new capability or capacity, one of the most sustainable and cost-effective routes is to consider remanufactured IT. Fully-tested remanufactured equipment offers the same product, with the same quality, software warranty and support as new.. It just costs less. 

In your IT support contracts, you are already relying on remanufactured equipment as this is nearly always the replacement if something goes wrong with your new product.

Benefits

Cost savings of 15-20%, 80% reduction of carbon footprint vs new, keeps resource in use.

Example: Colt Telecom

We built a blended supply chain to include sustainable technology. This delivered shorter lead times, greater resilience and better value.

Refurbished

Similar to remanufactured, but perhaps not as cosmetically perfect. Authorised refurbished is often used as standard in warranty replacements – performance-wise, it’s impossible the tell the difference between refurbished and new. 

Benefits

Cost savings of 15-20%, 80% reduction of carbon footprint vs new, keeps resource in use.

Example: Major global insurance company

We reduced the cost of their network by deploying refurbished switches and routers.

Reuse

Can items be reused, outside or inside your organisation? We can ensure your equipment is used to its maximum utility. Even very old technology can be donated or sold to organisations who need it, ensuring it’s used for longer. 

Benefits

Prevents eWaste, reduces use from new, generates income, social and brand value.

Example: International Telecom Company

We recovered value for our client for their redundant stock and gave a second life to items that they no longer needed.

Repair

Can your broken or underperforming IT be repaired or upgraded to extend its useful life? Would repairing or upgrading work better than your current replacement cycle. Our team can advise on just what’s possible. 

Benefits

Use what you have for longer, less CO2 in manufacture, less eWaste, lower than replacement cost.

Example: NHS Trust

We identified defective devices and repaired these to avoid wastage while blending remanufactured equipment with new to deliver a more sustainable IT solution.

Repurpose

Our access to global inventories and multiple supply chains enables our business to breakdown IT components to sell as spares and parts, as well as fully refurbished items. 

Benefits

Supported the circular economy, reduces the need for virgin materials, beats supply chain shortages.

Example: Tag Rugby Trust 

We downgraded old laptops that were no longer capable of data intensive processing and repurposed them for Tag Rugby Trust, a fantastic charity. 

Recycle

We’ll take back equipment you no longer use and get it reused or repurposed. Only as a very last resort will we have it recycled. At present, only a small percentage of scarce resources can be easily recovered from eWaste so keeping equipment in use for longer is the sustainable choice.

Benefits

Prevents eWaste and recirculates resources for extended use.

Example: CEDaCI

To better understand material usage in datacentres, we repurposed equipment as part of the CEDaCI, an EU-funded research programme. 
R1
R2
R3
R4
R5
R6
R7
R8

Reduce by design

Covers technical solutions, supply chain and logistics strategies, implementation and migration, in-life usage and maintenance, data use and consumption models, planning for end of use, asset recovery, and next use. 

Benefits

Optimised solutions for resilience, sustainability and value.

Example: Daiwa Capital Markets

Designed, implemented, migrated, and supported a data centre based on sustainable IT. “meticulously planned and executed without incident”

Reduce need

Both quick wins and long-term gains can be made by extending the life of IT and reducing the need for new equipment. Most IT platforms can be safely extended and capacity increased using trusted technology at a fraction of the replacement cost. 

Benefits

Increased ROI for existing assets, free up capital for accelerating digital transformation, and reduce eWaste.

Example: Ministry of Defence

We extended the life and increased the capacity of technology across seven datacentres, saving $15m in replacement costs and thousands of kilograms of eWaste.  

Remanufacture

If you need an IT solution to provide new capability or capacity, one of the most sustainable and cost-effective routes is to consider remanufactured IT. Fully-tested remanufactured equipment offers the same product, with the same quality, same software and same support options as new. It just costs less. 

In your IT support contracts, you are already relying on remanufactured equipment as this is nearly always the replacement if something goes wrong with your new product.

Benefits

Cost savings of 15-20%, 80% reduction of carbon footprint vs new, keeps resource in use.

Example: Colt Telecom

We built a blended supply chain to include sustainable technology. This delivered shorter lead times, greater resilience and better value.

Refurbished

Similar to remanufactured, but perhaps not as cosmetically perfect. Authorised refurbished is often used as standard in warranty replacements – performance-wise, it’s impossible the tell the difference between refurbished and new. 

Benefits

Cost savings of 15-20%, 80% reduction of carbon footprint vs new, keeps resource in use.

Example: Chubb Insurance

Waiting on Copy

Reuse

Can items be reused, outside or inside your organisation? We can ensure your equipment is used to its maximum utility. Even very old technology can be donated or sold to organisations who need it, ensuring it’s used for longer. 

Benefits

Prevents eWaste, reduces use from new, generates income, social and brand value.

Example: British Telecom

Waiting on copy

Repair

Can your broken or underperforming IT be repaired or upgraded to extend its useful life? Would repairing or upgrading work better than your current replacement cycle. Our team can advise on just what’s possible. 

Benefits

Use what you have for longer, less CO2 in manufacture, less eWaste, lower than replacement cost.

Example: Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust

We identified defective devices and repaired these to avoid wastage while blending remanufactured equipment with new to deliver a more sustainable IT solution.

Repurpose

Our access to global inventories and multiple supply chains enables our business to breakdown IT components to sell as spares and parts, as well as fully refurbished items. 

Benefits

Supported the circular economy, reduces the need for virgin materials, beats supply chain shortages.

Example: Tag Rugby Trust 

We downgraded old laptops that were no longer capable of data intensive processing and repurposed them for Tag Rugby Trust, a fantastic charity. 

Recycle

We’ll take back equipment you no longer use and get it reused or repurposed. Only as a very last resort will we have it recycled. At present, only a small percentage of scarce resources can be easily recovered from eWaste so keeping equipment in use for longer is the sustainable choice.

Benefits

Prevents eWaste and recirculates resources for extended use.

Example: CEDaCI

To better understand material usage in datacentres, we repurposed equipment as part of the CEDaCI, an EU-funded research programme. 

Three steps to getting started today

01

Understand how you buy

Are you on a no-questions-asked three-year IT hardware replacement cycle? Do you largely recycle your old IT rather than ensuring it has another life? Question these approaches. Consider how you could take easy steps to try a new approach.

Try a remanufactured IT component, incorporate an element of remanufactured IT into your network infrastructure and give us feedback. If you aren’t satisfied, we’ll refund you.

02

Read our case studies

See how businesses have taken a more sustainable approach to IT without compromising on data security, risk or reliability. Discover how the planet gains, and budgets benefit from a more sustainable approach. Then speak to us and find out how we can do the same for you.

03

Learn the language

Understand the options available: authorised remanufactured, refurbished, reused, repurposed. See how they align with your sustainability goals. Share them with us and we’ll work together to Act on IT.

Work with us, not for us

While technology is at the heart of our service, our culture, values and approach are distinctly human. To us sustainable performance is as much about our people as our business.

Circularity First Limited

Lexicon House
Third Avenue
Poynton
Cheshire
SK12 1YL

+44 (0)20 3988 8355



Circularity First LLP

1010 Winding Creek Road
STE 180
Roseville
CA 95678

+1 (916) 246-6082

Circularity First Aps

Atletikvej 11C
9230 Svenstrup J
Denmark

+45 (8987) 6244
Registered in England and Wales. Company number 13070956. Registered office: Circularity First Group Ltd, Ground Floor, Egerton House, 68 Baker Street, Weybridge, Surrey, United Kingdom, KT13 8AL
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram Skip to content