That reflects a misunderstanding of what sustainability is and the impact it can have on a business. Sustainable IT refers to efforts to increase the useful life and reduce the environmental impact of IT systems. Sustainability is intrinsically connected to environmental responsibility; however, when applied to IT, sustainability must include the impact on business. IT initiatives that have a positive environmental impact but a negative financial impact could be inherently unsustainable as the business will, at some point, be unable to invest in them.

If done properly, initiatives that increase IT sustainability have financial benefits that far outweigh the costs associated with the program. In addition, they can play a significant role in risk mitigation—ensuring regulatory compliance and preventing reputation damage—while contributing to positive public perceptions.

The key to selling sustainability at the highest level of the organization is first to make a business case based on the savings that can be realized through a sustainable IT program. The reductions in environmental impact, which are also measurable and important, become an added benefit of the program, rather than the main driver.

The current generation of IT hardware has the processing power and reliability to be used 50 percent to 75 percent longer than the default three-year lifecycle that was defined by IT planners years ago and still enthusiastically embraced by equipment manufacturers. The most efficient organizations are extending PC refresh cycles up to five years, and longer in certain installations. This allows the cost of the PC to be amortized during a longer period and reduces costs associated with acquiring new technology.

These companies often are able to negotiate extended warranties for this equipment at a cost that is more than offset by reduced acquisition costs. They also have found that the financial benefits of lifecycle extension are significantly enhanced when the effort is supplemented by programs to recover assets being taken out of service, refurbish them and, if they meet corporate standards, redeploy them within the organization. These assets often can be used to create an inventory of hot spares. This can serve as an alternative to warranty extension programs and allow unexpected needs to be met quickly. If necessary, used equipment may be acquired to supplement the hot spares inventory.

For every $1,000 in original cost, extending a three-year lifecycle to four years will generate savings of approximately $325. When lifecycles are extended to 4.5 years, the savings increase to nearly $500; five years increases savings to $650. In addition, several Redemtech clients have analyzed the savings realized from redeploying assets and found savings to be between $1,000 and $1,100 per redeployed asset compared to buying new.

What equipment manufacturers don’t tell you is that it takes nearly as much raw materials to manufacture a PC as it does to build a mid-sized car, and the process is energy-intense. According to a United Nations University study, for a PC “the energy used for the production phase is 81 percent of the total consumed for production and operation.” In other words, (assuming a three-year lifecycle), only 19 percent of a PC’s energy is expended during its lifetime.

Looking at this another way, the positive environmental impact of reusing computers can be substantial. According to the U.S. EPA’s Environmental Impact Calculator, reusing 1,000 desktop computers and monitors creates environmental savings equivalent to:

These equivalencies can be quantified for your organization to help build support for sustainability efforts. And they can be enhanced by efforts to reuse equipment outside your organization. Computers sitting idle in your business may have resale value that can be captured and used to offset the costs of disposing of computers at end-of-life.

Computers can also be donated to support corporate philanthropic efforts. The same improvements that are allowing lifecycles to be extended make the computers coming out of your organization more valuable to non-profits. Organizations that once were reluctant to donate computers for either data security or environmental reasons, can now donate with confidence based on Redemtech’s documented data security processes and free end-of-life asset recovery services.

It also is no longer necessary to select specific charities to receive the equipment as Redemtech partner Techsoup.org provides a ready-made channel for getting refurbished PCs to deserving non-profits. In addition, Redemtech is a Community Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher (CMAR), enabling us to install authorized Microsoft operating systems and the Microsoft Office suite on computers to be donated to approved non-profits for only $5 per unit. Free recycling services offered by Redemtech to non-profits ensures responsible disposal at end of life.

Few organizations would knowingly participate in this effort, but according to the Basel Action Network, as much as 80 percent of e-waste slated for recycling is being shipped overseas. Knowingly or not, many organizations are participating in this effort by simply turning their e-waste over to the lowest bidder.

A sustainable approach, in which equipment is demanufactured to salvage usable components and remaining materials are processed for use in manufacturing other goods, is more costly than overseas dumping. But this extra expense can be more than offset by the savings realized through other sustainability efforts, as was clearly demonstrated in Strategic Redeployment Program Saves Company Millions, the success story in the last issue of (re) news.

In addition, this level of responsibility has a number of other direct and indirect benefits. First, having the processes in place to be confident that your equipment is not being shipped overseas supports regulatory compliance. If you don’t know where your assets end up after they leave your loading dock, how do you know whether you are in compliance with e-waste regulations or not?

Next, in an increasingly environmentally conscious society, the cost for not taking the right actions increases. What are the costs to your business if a national news program or magazine highlights assets that can be traced back to your business in overseas dumps? ABC News 20/20, National Geographic and USA Today have all produced feature stories on the environmental impact on e-waste on developing countries.

Finally, a more disciplined and responsible approach to e-waste supports a more disciplined and responsible approach to data security. Are all data-bearing assets being effectively erased before equipment is resold, donated or recycled? If you can’t document that this is the case, you have a significant gap in your asset disposal program.

The reality of sustainability is this: environmental and financial objectives are completely compatible and a successful sustainability program is one that not only reduces environmental impact—it has a positive impact on the bottom line.

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