Visiting the Maldives archipelago fits most people’s idea of paradise. Within the huge network of 26 atolls are 1,192 islands – some inhabited, others not – home to luxury resorts with beachside bungalows, the whitest of soft sand, shaded by palm trees, and an ocean teaming with wildlife.

What might come as a shock is that lurking in this idyllic bliss is the island of Thilafushi.  Close to the capital of Malé, it’s a municipal landfill – an artificial island of rubbish – where 330 tonnes of waste is delivered daily.  Even in one of the most beautiful corners of the world, garbage is creating an environmental catastrophe.

This also goes for e-waste, too.  Research shows it takes 190,000 litres of water to manufacture a single PC, with 85% of the carbon overhead generated during manufacture.

According to an Uptime Institute survey, only 28% of companies consider IT Asset Disposal [ITAD] a key part of their sustainability strategies. This means that most businesses don’t. The result is that they really have no idea how their equipment is actually dealt with and where components end up given there are so many third parties involved in the so-called ‘IT chain of custody’.  This means numerous firms have been inadvertently illegally dumping their IT, especially if an approved and accredited ITAD provider is not used.

IT charity is broken

For years, the developed world has been using low-income developing nations as a dumping ground for IT under the guise of charitable donations.  It is wholly wrong.  Millions of tons of IT waste is generated each year and the ‘west’ has created toxic places on Earth because of this.

Indeed, some 998 million pupils globally still suffer from the digital divide. They just don’t have access to secure and usable IT equipment which would help them boost their earning potential and enable themselves to get out of poverty.

But here we fail, too. Some institutions in West Africa report having hundreds of PCs at their schools.  The problem is that none of them work, such that they are then used as room dividers and even tables. The question of whether the computer technology actually works isn’t typically asked when a container is loaded and shipped.

Add to this the problem of data security. Again, this hasn’t really been addressed properly when it comes to giving away, retiring or recycling equipment. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney was recently fined $35m by the SEC for failing to wipe customer data off around 4,900 servers and hard drives as equipment was replaced

It’s not all doom and gloom – environmental pain is driving innovation

Whilst there is a huge amount of green washing as firms strive to meet ESG goals, there’s great behaviour, too.  Businesses are being inspired and audited by organisations such as Science Based Target Initiatives,  EcoVadis and Morningstar Sustainalytics who are doing a brilliant job at helping companies transition. EcoVadis and Sustainalytics are two ratings companies giving large enterprises bronze, silver, gold awards for their true and proven ESG activities and outcomes.

In addition, if we mine at the same current rates, it’s estimated that gold and silver will run out in circa 15 years and platinum and copper in around 30 years – key components used in the manufacture of electronic devices. However, the good news is that there is already enough out of the ground sitting dormant in electronic waste to keep us going if we moved to a circular economy and recycled it.

Businesses should be disposing of IT assets to end e-waste

So, what are the practical steps companies should take to reduce e-waste?

1. Ensure that the ITAD selected has the right up-to-date certifications.  They should be ADISA certified to standard 8.0 – it’s incredibly strict – along with and ISO 14001 and ISO 27001.
2. Avoid obvious ‘red flags’.  Any firm claiming to collect and recycle IT for free is either going bust or not meeting the above standards.
3. View IT as a product not waste. Many organisations don’t.  If it is seen as product, it can be collected, ethically refurbished and recycled, and put back into the circular economy. In fact, it can be monetized to generate (some) revenue for the company, too.
4. Large companies must have a sensible global outlook given pervasive international standards aren’t there yet and there is huge dissonance in local laws.  For example, there is limited point in a US firm selecting the lowest cost provider for off-shore ITAD– and feeling happy they have done enough – if the local firm then doesn’t recycle to US or EU/UK standards. That gratuitously and immorally passes the environmental buck elsewhere.  Close attention to detail must be paid to the whole IT recycling chain.
5. Recognise that whilst businesses have a responsibility to properly consume and dispose of corporate owned IT, so do individuals.  Most people have an old laptop and various phones sitting in draws and cupboards at home. We run a program called the ‘Urban Mine’ where employees of client firms can bring in their old devices and have the data securely wiped and the unit properly disposed of and recycled by the corporate ITAD.  We estimate that there’s about $65 million worth of recyclable metal salvageable from initiatives like this.
6. Consider working with an ethical IT asset disposal provider for all electronic and IT waste disposal management. Sun Screen IT’s ITAD partner is Centerprise International.  When they process end of life IT equipment from Sun Screen’s clients, they generously donate their margin to Sun Screen IT’s charitable foundation so that 100% of Sun Screen IT’s profits are used to help close the digital divide. Clients can also use one contract to manage all their IT recycling globally, safe in the knowledge that it meets the right standards.

By working effectively like this, companies can cut waste, honestly achieve their ESG agendas and take significant steps to the paradise of a greener future where IT isn’t a major polluter.

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Our mission is to enable sustainable IT. We do this by helping organizations reduce their carbon footprint by extending the useful life of their endpoint hardware. We also help to optimize resources across the IT infrastructure and reduce energy consumption.

Why is Sustainable IT So Important?

Across almost every industry, IT is a contributor to serious sustainability challenges. More than 57 million metric tons of e-waste were produced worldwide in 2021 alone. The production and use of new devices are compounding this problem. Just slowing down the use of new device purchases can offset a great deal of sustainability drain, not to mention the obvious CAPEX savings.

Consider for a moment that 83% of a device’s total carbon footprint is generated during the manufacturing process. If we simply slow down the adoption of new devices, it can have a tremendous effect on e-waste as well as our global carbon consumption.

Now let’s consider the effect of end user computing itself. Research has found that as much as 2.5% of our global emissions come from end user computing and 3% of the world’s power generation is consumed by end user computing devices. That is a significant tax on the Earth which we have the power to affect.

See more about the impact of devices on the global e-waste problem and how technology can help in this video:

IGEL’s Three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle  

At IGEL, we have taken our role in enabling sustainable IT to heart. As such, we’re focused on evangelizing responsible business practices to protect the environment. It’s a fundamental part of our policies and partnerships. At the core of our sustainability program are the interconnected principles of what we call the “Three Rs:” reducing, reusing, and recycling resources and products to lower IT’s impact on e-waste and the global carbon footprint. Following is our guidance for IT organizations that also wish to increase sustainability:

• Reduce – By focusing on making responsible choices for energy-efficient devices and optimizing the resources IT and end users use, we can reduce CO₂ emissions and conserve energy. Here we share the importance of choosing devices that have been responsibly manufactured, and enabling devices to reduce power consumption through software that is more efficient (such as with IGEL OS).
• Reuse – We encourage, and through IGEL technology also enable, the reuse of devices and resources enterprises already own. Aging devices can be given new life, so organizations can reduce the need to purchase new devices for longer, thus reducing e-waste and lowering the carbon impact of manufacturing new equipment.
• Recycle – IGEL also advocates the responsible management of IT asset disposal to reduce e-waste and the subsequent adverse effects on human health. By supporting social projects that reuse aging devices and partnering with services for responsible disposition, we are empowering IT sustainability.

Embracing a Culture of Sustainability Beyond Earth Day

Sustainability is an integral part of the IGEL vision, mission, and values. At our core, IGEL has the vision to transform the way the world works, creating better outcomes for people, organizations, and our planet.

Because this sustainability is at our core, we continue to build responsible partnerships and corporate social responsibility programs that underscore our values.

One such program is our involvement in the Plant for the Planet program. Here, we are taking action for a more sustainable future by planting and growing trees while conserving and restoring forest carbon sinks worldwide.

If your views match ours, we invite you to join us in planting and protecting trees. With our partners and customers, IGEL has already raised donations to plant 16,154 trees. We’re close to our 20,000-tree target.

If you’d like to join us in this incredible cause, learn more here. It’s a very meaningful way to celebrate Earth Day together.

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Research shows the demand for environmentally sustainable business is growing across the world. Many consumers and organizations believe businesses bear as much responsibility for positive change as governments. As a result, organizations are increasingly looking toward fundamentally transforming themselves to help drive down carbon emissions, costs and to reflect the growing demands for environmentally sustainable business practices.

A study by Lancaster University and Small World Consulting Ltd found that IT equipment share of global greenhouse gas emissions could be around 2.1-3.9%. This means that the IT industry produces more green gas emissions than the aviation industry, which are around 2% of global emissions (link: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/news/emissions-from-computing-and-ict-could-be-worse-than-previously-thought)

The good news is that there are technologies than can support sustainability such as Virtualized Windows Applications and Desktops and its supporting technologies. Virtualization when deployed with the right tools and solutions can not only reduce power and air conditioning requirements but also extend the useful life of aging laptop and PC hardware. Add to this collaboration tools with Unified Communications (UC) and you have a flexible hybrid working solution that has the potential to boost productivity while supporting sustainability. These technologies can not only help organizations drive down their direct power consumption but can also reduce the carbon emissions generated by the manufacturing of new devices – in addition to supporting a dramatic shift in working practice. They also support hot-desking strategies while providing access to secure flexible remote working. As a result, organizations can now leverage solutions and technology to deliver significant reductions in their carbon footprint – and deliver bottom-line value.

The changing focus

As organizations worldwide begin to face up to the increasing likelihood of government legislation on carbon emissions, there is a general acceptance that every aspect of the business needs to consider its carbon footprint – and of course, IT is a major contributor. Greener IT is not just about reassessing an organization’s IT infrastructure, it is also about its working practices. Could increased home or remote working be considered to reduce employee travel? How can video conferencing be strategically used to cut down travel to meetings? Can repurposing existing PC hardware extend its useful life and reduce the impact that new hardware creates? Should a hot-desking policy be used to reduce the volume of desktop infrastructure?

And of course, all these decisions must balance cost, security, flexibility, and the environment – but the underpinning business focus must be the bottom line. The good news is that many of the tools and techniques for improving the green status of the IT department will typically also cut costs significantly.

The virtual approach

In the past, the adoption of server virtualization across the data centers dramatically reduced power consumption reducing the number of physical machines and their associated air conditioning. Now organizations are considering following the same model in the office environment. The adoption of a virtual model has the potential to further drive down power consumption to save money and boost green credentials. By adopting Virtual Apps and Desktops and their complementary solutions, organizations can fundamentally transform working practices, increase flexibility, and further reduce costs.

The modern office

Given the cost and environmental benefits, it is little surprise that many organizations now have virtual apps and desktops firmly on the agenda. However, many have yet to recognize the many knock-on effects virtual apps and desktops can have on working practices. By combining virtualization with Unified Communications in the right way, organizations can truly transform the working environment for their employees, saving money, reducing the carbon footprint, and deliver a better experience for their employees.

By integrating the telephony solution into their collaboration solution, organizations can further reduce power consumption and costs – and significantly reduce their maintenance overhead. But this only works if the right technologies are selected and configured with careful consideration.

Virtual apps and desktops can also fundamentally transform the environmental impact of desktop support. Virtual apps and desktops can be supported remotely, significantly reducing the carbon emissions associated with sending staff for physical support. As a further benefit, this remote management also increases uptime, boosting employee productivity and drastically reducing costs.

How to implement flexible working while extending the life of devices

Extending the useful life of Laptops and PCs

By repurposing aging laptops and PCs, organizations can build a simple to use, easy-to-manage, secure access solution for their virtual environments. They no longer need to dispose of aging endpoint devices that still work – but can instead simply upgrade them to a compact secure OS (such as IGEL OS). Devices that do not have the power to support the latest Windows OS can leverage the Edge OS. The lightweight OS uses less endpoint CPU and local resources. As a result, even devices that are up to eight years old (including thin clients, laptops, and desktops) can be used to access virtual apps and desktops – including Windows 10/11, even if they were never able to run it natively. This simple to manage solution not only saves organizations the cost of major upgrades, but it also keeps older computers out of landfills and in use for much, much longer. A recent survey demonstrated that such a strategy, which extended the life of Windows-based PC for 2 additional years can help reduce 40% emissions per 1000 users. (CEBR study for Citrix: Page 14 )

Collaboration tools

An integrated collaboration solution within a virtual environment provides a great user experience too – but running these types of tools (such as Microsoft Teams) in a virtual environment can be problematic as they can have high resource requirements for the backend infrastructure. To mitigate this, the right choice of access endpoint is essential. The right access solution enables the strategic offloading of functions to the access device (such as audio or video calling). Choosing the right Edge OS (such as IGEL OS) results in an improved employee experience, often with lower backend hardware costs – while also enabling a great experience for IT to support the solution to keep it up-to-date and secure.

Virtual Apps and Desktops

By using Virtual Apps and Desktops, employees can work from home one or two days a week reducing the business commuting mileage and hence dramatically reducing carbon footprint.

Public Cloud

Whatever your choice of public cloud (e.g., AWS, Azure or GCP), moving VDI to a public cloud utilizes bigger and more efficient data centers which have great economies of scale and in some cases can even be carbon neutral.

Hot Desking

Consider deploying a hot-desk environment. With this type of solution, users not only gain immediate access to their data, regardless of the location from which it was last accessed, but also the collaboration technology which automatically transfers that user’s video and audio sessions to their current location. This enables employees to work anywhere in the building at any time, fundamentally improving space utilization and reducing waste.

Flexible Working

This integrated approach works not only in the office, but also supports far more cost-effective hybrid remote working as calls are automatically routed to the device – wherever it is.

Collaboration tools support the adoption of cross-departmental teams using video conferencing to reduce the need to travel to meetings. By reducing overall employee travel time, organizations can not only drive down the level of carbon emissions but also boost productivity and support strategies for improving employee work/life balance.

Security

The use of the edge OS architecture ensures that critical data is never held on the machine – users can securely use wi-fi or 4G/5G connections to access the corporate servers when outside the secure office environment. It can also further secure the environment by limiting the dangers of viruses (with the use of dedicated virtual browser solutions) and with no admin access to the local device, it is impossible to download and store files. And, with all documents automatically stored centrally, organizations can avoid the endemic problem of data loss caused by individuals opting to save their data locally, despite clear corporate policies to the contrary.

Conclusion

There is growing pressure on organizations to meet their environmental responsibilities, but environmentally sustainable business is about more than just reducing power consumption and scaling down the IT infrastructure. It is about supporting the employee to drive down emissions through flexible hybrid working, enabling collaboration and conferencing to reduce travel requirements.

Critically, with the right approach, environmentally sustainable business is not just about meeting targets and being seen to be green but adopting efficient, well-managed processes that deliver quantifiable benefits to the bottom line.

Capgemini’s Connected Workspace and Connected Collaboration portfolio of services provide a range of cloud workspace solutions that help you plan the right approach for your organization and create an environmentally sustainable workplace that reduces carbon footprint while enhancing total experience.

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With an estimated 3.2bn end user computing (EUC) devices already in use globally, new purchases of desktop PCs, notebooks and tablets exceeded 450 million units in 2020. This represents a 5% increase on the previous year and constitutes the highest growth in ten years.

The rise in sales is directly attributed to the pandemic accelerating remote working, home schooling and a shift towards purchasing products that improve home life.

Consequently, IT user numbers grew at a rate of three hundred and nineteen million per year with associated internet data centre traffic rising 40%. As an indication of what is required to power this digital surge, data centre electricity to now account for 1% of global consumption at 200TWh per year.

As the interface to access these data centres to enable work, education and now more often than not, recreation, EUC devices have become part of our everyday human-machine symbiosis. The rationale being that whether productivity or leisure time, humans and computing machines now ‘live together’ in the true sense of the word.

However, the difference between the two is that human life lasts far longer than the machine’s. Reaching on average 80 years we will consequently interact on a long term basis with approximately 20 EUC devices during our time on Earth.

Like all technology, this is because there is often a shelf life attached to computers whether due to new versions becoming more appealing or new software forcing upgrades. Consequently, we will ultimately decide to end the relationship at some point, although in environmental impact terms the question is, ‘did we jump too soon’?

The probability is that we have and in fact with a little thought, we could reduce the cumulative 20 EUC devices to 14. This could be achieved by avoiding the popular habit of refreshing every 3 years and moving to a minimum of 5-year retention period.

The environmental impact if this were embraced in concert is substantial. Six less devices across the lifespan of IT users results in a 30% reduction in demand. In annual terms this change in behaviour would theoretically prevent 135 million devices from being manufactured each year.

As such, based on average greenhouse gas emissions created each time a desktop PC, notebook or tablet is manufactured the annual greenhouse gas abatement could be as much as 19.3bn kgCO2e.

Staggeringly, this is equal to preventing the emissions of 48.5bn car miles and has the potential to free up the photosynthetic sequestering capacity of over 23 million acres of forest.

From a personal perspective it is certainly food for thought, but on Earth Day 2021 we should also consider the wider picture of climate change and how our machine-symbiosis could help.

Since the Industrial Revolution, human activities known as anthropogenic interference have already caused 1.0°C of global warming. 1.5°C will be reached between 2030 and 2052 if emissions increases continue at the current rate. However, scientists calculate that reaching and sustaining net zero global anthropogenic CO² emissions by mid-century, will halt global warming on a multi-decadal scale and temperature gains will begin to peak.

To achieve this goal, the world cannot rely solely on the key strategies such as the electrification of transport as evidence indicates that rapidity of adoption will not be sufficient to bridge the required 32GtCO2e abatement gap between success and failure. Alternatively, all aspects of human pollutant activities must be examined and low carbon behaviours proffered and diffused.

Such an idea as reducing EUC replacement cycles sits well with the United Nations report. This indicates that to achieve critical abatement success within the next decade, the world must combine existing technology with innovation to drive behavioural changes capable of reducing societal emissions.

In this context, extending the useful lifecycle of a personal computing devices will most certainly add to the groundswell of ideas that will help to tackle global warming and ultimately climate change.

The answer to achieving this could be to just simply love the device for an extra 24 months regardless of whatever latest model becomes available. Alternatively, when faced with an operating system no longer being supported by certain application, the same extension could be accomplished by transforming the device into a thin client powered by an IGEL UD pocket device.

In a world of business where desktop and software as a service are now dominant, the emphasis for the device to be performant is diminished. As such with the IGEL UD Pocket, the IGEL Linux 10 desktop can be accessed from any USB-bootable PC, laptop, tablet that could have been destined for recycling.

Now re-purposed, the device not only lives on but also helps you to reduce your lifetime count of 20 EUC devices. At the same time, you will be responsible for saving a small part of the planet. Fewer raw and often precious materials will be mined, formed, tested and delivered to your doorstep. And consequently, fewer GHG emissions will be generated to saturate our atmosphere and drive global warming and ultimately climate change.

As such, when you celebrate Earth Day 2021 contemplate your human-machine symbiosis. Think about all the EUC devices of old and those devices you have begun to covet for the future. Take a moment and simply think, ‘Is my machine really at the end of its life or can we live together for a while longer?’

The post IGEL & Earth Day 2021: Live Together Longer – why human-machine symbiosis could save the planet appeared first on IGEL.

Around the globe, the topic of energy preservation and sustainability is more top of mind than ever. And while many technology companies may be clamoring to showcase their latest “green” capabilities, IGEL is proud to state that it’s been an environmentally friendly company for decades.

From the production plant to the desktop, IGEL continues to demonstrate that it’s an active advocate of green technology. Consider these six ways:

1: IGEL Hardware Devices Use Less Material. Our endpoint devices are built for environmental sustainability by using less plastic than competitive solutions. In fact, we continue to evolve our plastic efficiency and today use approximately 50% less volume than predecessor models. Less plastic also equates to devices that are up to 20% lighter in weight, improving the environmental impact of shipping IGEL devices – whether down the street or across the globe.

2: IGEL Hardware Devices Use 30% Recycled Plastic. Continuing the sustainability of our plastic usage, IGEL thin clients are also built using 30% recycled plastic in one color. This avoids the use of additional paint materials for increased environmental protection and waste reduction.

3: IGEL Hardware Is Power Efficient. Once in use, the green features of IGEL devices continue through exceptionally low power consumption, small physical footprint and convection cooling without moving parts. This means that using IGEL endpoints not only saves on energy (and energy costs), but also lowers ambient cooling requirements as well. IGEL endpoint devices hold Energy Star and EU-Ecodesign certifications.

4: IGEL Software Supports Efficient Device Reuse. IGEL software-defined endpoints are exceptionally green as well. By enabling the reuse and repurposing of aging laptops and PCs, organization don’t need to dispose of old endpoint devices but can instead easily upgrade to IGEL OS granting them a new, highly productive purpose as clients connecting to a virtual or cloud environment. In fact, we often see devices that are up to eight years old (including thin clients, laptops and desktops) that are accessing Windows 10 in the data center or cloud today that would have never been able to run it natively. This not only saves companies from major forklift upgrades, it keeps older computers out of the landfill and in use for much, much longer.

This benefit is particularly relevant in healthcare environments which use Workstation on Wheels (WOW) carts. These powered carts use a local battery to power the computing equipment they hold. Devices that use the light weight IGEL OS use less endpoint CPU and local resources so that the WOW local battery can last significantly longer. That means lower power usage and less required charging time which can literally help to save lives!

5: IGEL Devices Last Longer. The typical IGEL device remains actively in use for up to 3 times longer, or more, than traditional PCs and laptops, which can be evidenced by the extended IGEL warranty which is up to five years upon registration compared to the standard one year warranty for PCs and laptops. That means less waste and less impact on the environment during the production of replacement devices.

6: IGEL Uses a Small Production Footprint. During the manufacturing process, IGEL is green as well. IGEL has always focused on innovative ways to lower component usage compared to PCs and laptops. In addition, IGEL packaging is composed of recycled paper and cardboard and is plastic free. This results in lower environmental pollution for all the resources used to build IGEL devices, while also lowering transportation impact as well as disposal effects after their useful life.

At IGEL, we’re focused on building a cleaner, greener world for our future generations. To that end, we will continue to refine our decades-long commitment for more sustainable technology solutions and approaches. In addition to the obvious positive corporate responsibility impact, our customers experience significant capital and operational savings as well. Together, we can avoid the depletion of our natural resources and maintain the ecological balance of our world. Join us. Go green with IGEL.

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