Covid-19 led to the increase in the used refurbished and second hand equipment. CEDaCI Project Partner, Arjen Workum, Aliter Networks, explained for Deutsche Welle how it can be the moment for refurbishing and reusing the existing equipment.
Sales of electronics goods have surged in recent months as millions around the world have turned their homes into offices and digital classrooms. Within the first two weeks of March, the US saw computer monitor sales double and demand for laptops, mice, and keyboards all increase by 10%.
That might sound like good news for manufacturers, but the other winners could be those pushing for circular economies that facilitate a continual use of resources.
Arjen Workum, a network consultant at Aliter Networks, a Netherlands company specializing in reusing IT hardware, believes this could be a key moment for sustainable production. He says the fact that many manufacturers haven't been able to produce and supply new equipment, has made them start "to look in other directions to keep their infrastructure running," and that they are now "opening up for our [circular] business model."
Aliter Networks recently became the first B-Corp certified IT company to promote a circular economy - a certification only received by companies across the world that meet the highest standards of social and environmental performance in business. Since 2009, Aliter has reused over 150,000 IT network products such as switches and routers, saving at least 310,000 kilos of e-waste. Read more
