A Greener Future With Cisco

Sustainability and carbon neutral are the words on everybody’s lips in the wake of COP26, where world leaders alike joined forces for the 26^th time to discuss their progress towards the Paris agreement which put a spotlight on global warming in 2015. The outcome? New pledges surrounding carbon neutral transport, and an action plan for fuel efficiency and widespread electric vehicle charging for both public and heavy-duty vehicles.

Although COP26 may have been focused on reducing the 10% of greenhouse gases that the transport industry creates, many businesses, Cisco included, have made their own pledges for a greener future – and have created schemes to help other organisations do the same.

In September 2021 Cisco announced their commitments to reaching net-zero across scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2025 and reaching net-zero for all scopes by 2040. The near-term pledges also include a focus on supply chain emissions – something Cisco are keen to reduce not only for themselves but also for their 100,000+ customers worldwide.

In addition to reducing carbon emissions, Cisco has begun their own campaign against the harmful effects of electronic waste – arming their customers with the opportunity to directly make a difference to harmful landfill content and the destructive impact on the planets dwindling resources.

Supply chain & resource strain

Between the over mining of natural resources and the carbon emissions associated with the resource gathering, the supply chain has a lot to work on when it comes to sustainability. Every year the date where we surpass ‘earth overshoot day’ comes sooner and sooner, and although only an estimation, the date is a calculated numeral representation of the rate at which we are consuming resources.

Resource mining contributes 4 to 7% of greenhouse gas emissions and has a significant impact on the surrounding ecosystems with heavy machinery and land destruction, not to mention the extra emissions associated with refining and distributing said materials. This negative impact is arguably unnecessary when an estimated £44.8 million in gold, silver, copper, and iron from circuitry and other materials are wasted in landfills every year. If we could repurpose even a small portion of the materials we collectively waste we could begin to undo some of the damage on the planet and collectively bring ourselves to a more sustainable business sector, and vastly decrease the amount of electronic waste discarded in landfills.

Mitigating e-waste

Electronic waste, or e-waste, is defined as any waste material that requires a power source, and in 2019 53.6 million tonnes of e-waste were produced. Of these 53.6 million tonnes, only 17% were recycled, leaving 44.4 million tonnes of electronics in landfills.

E-waste has a larger impact than just the plastic casing damaging the surrounding environment. Chemicals like lithium, lead, and hydrochloric acid can be found in batteries and other electronics, which creates a much wider impact on the already fragile ecosystems surrounding the disposal site. In addition to this, an estimated 50 tonnes of mercury are improperly disposed of each year.

With such staggering numbers, uniting for a greener future has to be a joint effort. Fran Katsoudas, Chief People, Policy & Purpose Officer at Cisco states that “as a global technology leader, we must set the standard for sustainable business practices and support our customers, partners, and suppliers in their efforts to reduce their impact on the environment as well.”

The end of short-term thinking

Accessibility and short-term profit goals are often a roadblock when it comes to getting businesses on board with sustainability efforts. According to Deloitte, 37% of businesses see near-term business issues and shareholder/investor demands as a key obstacle preventing them from engaging in sustainable practices, with a further 29% citing the lack of return on investment in sustainability matters is preventing them from making the necessary adjustments.

Unfortunately this mindset is difficult to change, but not impossible. Last year a lack of senior leader buy-in was the leading obstacle at 38%, now only 17% in 2021. Businesses are aware, and want to act – but fear profit repercussions and rocking the delicate shareholder relationship if they do so.

Ending this short-term mindset is the key to creating a greener technology and business sector, but to alleviate the tensions and make sustainability easy we must first address the number one reason why people elect to not engage in such practices: cost.

The notion that sustainability must incur costs is not unfounded, there are always cost associated with any business model shake-up and migrating to a greener practice is no different. But when it comes to discussions of return on investment and cost-effectiveness of green technology, people often get their facts wrong. For starters, looking at it as black and white as financial spend and immediate return on investment removes the more intangible from the equation – the real ROI, so to speak, is saving the planet.

Protecting the earth from our current misdoings is vital to the longevity of any business, and with more than a quarter of Millennials and Gen-Z stating that a businesses environmental impact has influenced their buying decisions, failure to comply with current eco-trends could get you before global warming does.

But engaging in these sustainable practices can often be more cost-effective than their unsustainable counterparts. For example, purchasing products created with recycled materials removes the costs and emissions associated with raw material gathering, leaving you with a quality, and sometimes cheaper, end product.

But talking about sustainable practices, long-term thinking, and waste reduction is one thing, how is Cisco going to encourage and inspire action amongst their users?

Refresh to the Rescue

It’s clear that a unified approach needs to be taken in order to properly counter the sheer rate at which we are disposing of electronics items, harvesting new materials, and producing greenhouse gasses. Manufacturers should all be working to offer simple sustainability solutions to their product users that don’t put financial pressure on the delicate business to shareholder relationship when it comes to short-term profit negotiations.

Cisco took this need and created their own circular economy entity called Cisco Refresh, offering remanufactured Cisco hardware without the environmental impact associated with a new product. The scheme also allows customers to easily dispose of their old hardware and purchase as-new remanufactured and refurbished goods at a fraction of the cost - creating a circular cycle of production and removing the demand for new components when, as proven by the state of landfill sites, there is plenty to be reused and repurposed.

By creating a simple way of accessing remanufactured and environmentally conscious hardware Cisco have successfully addressed almost every issue presented by the current state of affairs when it comes to sustainability and tied it together with the care, attention, and warranty customers come to expect of Cisco products.

One small step…

Industry leaders are expected to hold a certain amount of responsibility and set the bar for others also aspiring to create sustainable business practices. Cisco is no exception, but by offering cost-effective, environmentally conscious solutions they have led by example and taken one of the first small steps that will cumulate into a wider, necessary change.

Together we can work for a greener future.

About Chulo, part of the Ampito Group

Chulo, part of the Ampito Group, are a Cisco Premier Partner and retailer of the Cisco Refresh program. The values seen by Cisco’s green initiatives are mirrored in our own, and we strive for customer satisfaction at every stage of the purchasing journey. As a part of the Ampito Group we benefit from over 30 years experience across all areas of technology, and pride ourselves on our adaptable approach to network solutions.

Discover how Chulo can help you maximise your IT budget and reach your sustainability goals – talk to one of our specialists today.