From geopolitics and supply-chain resilience to public-sector accountability and climate impact, the case for circularity in digital and ICT has never been stronger. In this Q&A, Steve Haskew, Director of Sustainability and Client Engagement at Circular Computing, unpacks what “designing for circularity” really means in practice, why behaviour change matters as much as technology, and how government and organisations can rethink IT procurement.
From Circular Computing’s perspective, what does “designing for circularity” really mean in the context of digital and ICT, and why is this shift so important right now?
The Western World has been caught napping at the wheel. China in particular has spent the past generation not only securing incredible, almost monopolistic supply of domestic and foreign natural resources in minerals and metals. But it has invested heavily, and leads the world in, the smelting, refining and production of these into finished products – all on mainland China.
International trade will be defined by the control and flow of these resources, and we see this very much in the headlights in the geopolitical scene right now. So, it is critical we address this with collaboration between the private and public sectors in the UK, possibly through longer term supply and services agreements so that clearer public-private approaches to sharing commercial and operational risk are adopted.
Everything contained in our digital world requires the same resources – be it in the field of transport, energy, the built environment or IT hardware technology. More metals and minerals will be mined in the next 30 years than since the start of the human race – the global population all digitally connected and having more than doubled in size since 1970. Therefore, a systematic change to protect what has already been made is paramount to ensure global supply chain stability.
The shift to a circular economy, and by that we do not think only of a levelling up of recycling (albeit very important) is a systems strategy to ensuring supply chain resilience under the three key themes of “absolute value retention, zeroing out waste, and keeping the agency of product once made, in use”. Why remake what has already been made?
The unintentional consequence of not considering a better way of production and consumption will be shortage in supply for all industries.
From Circular Computing’s perspective our investments over the past decade in laptop remanufacturing innovation requires firstly the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to design and produce product with a strong first life product integrity – the use of components and materials that are not designed to fail. This creates the platform for remanufacturing the device into second life and extended product use, which is a natural harbour for protecting what has already been made.
This only exists where key stakeholders challenge their consumption behaviour and consider a more holistic, humanitarian, and environmental approach to their linear habits. Where sustainable supply and consumption are aligned.
Government has a major part to play in this as it is not only a major consumer of IT, accountable to the public purse, but also leaders in industrial change – strategy and policy will drive key this change and we see evidence of this in the Government Buying Standards being published soon, with DEFRA taking the lead, and literally walking the walk.
Small strategic shifts can deliver big circular value. Can you share an example of the kind of “incremental change” that can make a real difference for organisations without disrupting operations?
From an academic perspective circular modelling is straight forward. It is the behaviour of the consumer that needs to change. At CC, we believe this cannot exist where compromise in use is present, both organisationally and in the experience of the end user. In laptop technology the experience needs to be the same as the consumer is used to and where the outcomes and values are significantly enhanced in all camps – be it economic, environmental, or social. If you crack this as a supplier, then you are providing alternatives that can not only be considered but adopted.
An advancement in how the public sector procures looks to persona and performance-based consumption, in other words, procure a product that is suitable for the user’s operational requirements – and with many white-collar workers only requiring access to productivity tools like the Microsoft suite, and web browsing leading edge technology can be overkill and a poor use of public funds.
The incremental change therefore is to consider products that do the job and not specify a one product for all, which often leads to the highest specification product for the power user, the regular user, the mobile user and the executive user.
Much like other industries, sustainable technology (remanufactured) and brand new technology can co-exist on a user’s IT estate. The shift to adoption should be based on persona and performance.
Circularity is sometimes seen as complex or risky. What do you think organisations often misunderstand about circular IT models, and how is that changing?
If you liked this content…
Interestingly, in the IT industry, there is a mature secondary market. Large users of IT have several considerations when looking at a technology refresh – the first is the procurement of the replacement product, the second is the disposal of the unwanted asset, and a whole sub-industry exists to ensure the reverse logistics, data sanitisation and remarketing of the assets is done with as much diligence as possible.
A decade ago, there was a paradigm shift, and that was the absolute adoption of broadband, Wi-Fi, mobile and internet technology – almost a full circle to a mainframe environment of the 1990’s where power was held in the cloud and not the desktop. However, the metronomic rhythm of linearity and refresh didn’t slow down. Then of course there was the pandemic, and we now find ourselves in a new period where the subject of circularity is a top table conversation – but the supply chain needs to be able to support ambition.
The fear, uncertainty and doubt of system changes and alternative sustainable solutions is natural as “no-one got fired for buying new”, and ultimately the products do the same job in operation – much the same as the energy industry, renewable and fossil fuels deliver power to the user, the light bulb comes on regardless of the source.
Change is happening as Government Buying Standards are setting minimum mandated thresholds for Departments to adopt sustainable technology. We are definitely in the “educate the market phase”, but change is happening and we will see acceleration in adoption in the coming years.
Looking at circularity through economic, environmental and social lenses, how do you balance these three impacts in real-world digital transformation projects?
Where the balance of these three lenses overlap sits the true sense of sustainability – regardless of industry. Making new “stuff” comes with unintentional consequences downstream which are now being more fully understood.
Retaining the value of what has already been produced and remanufacture to a state that is considered new, at a price point 20-40 percent less than a newly produced product is the starting point – does the product do the job required? If it does, then the economic benefits alone should be enough.
If you then factor in the significant carbon reduction, the preservation of natural resources, and the conservation of water in the smelting, refining and production phases, then the environmental benefits are significant, and build on financial value. The outcomes are real.
Then we look to the social lens, which considers humanitarian benefits – production of new product comes at a cost, often where transparency in supply chains is difficult to measure and manage. Not only from human rights, but also from a nature and biodiversity perspective – often we hear of irresponsible practices to feed consumption behaviour. Ethical and sustainable supply addresses this.
You will be diving into how to design for circularity at the upcoming GDSA Summit. What are you hoping the session will challenge, clarify or move forward in terms of circular design thinking in government and the wider tech sector?
Quite simply, to challenge the status quo. In a world where data is available to help these decisions, being responsible and accountable for ethical and sustainable procurement is a function of protecting society.
If though in doing the diligence in pre-market procurement, the Government feels compromised then “no” is perhaps justifiable. If “no” cannot be found, then there is a position for a better outcome and adopting sustainable IT as a part or total solution is achievable
What would you want the key takeaway to be about the future of circular IT and digital sustainability?
Be curious, have agency and take control. The future is now.
Robust and resilient systems are in place at scale and pace. Seek them out. Learn from Defra.
