Gütersloh, 08/22/2023

Certificate For Ten Years Of Sustainable Handling Of Company IT

For ten years, Bertelsmann’s Corporate Center has had company laptops, PCs and smartphones refurbished by a nonprofit called AfB Social & Green IT so that the devices can be reused, thereby conserving valuable resources. Other Bertelsmann companies are now working with AfB as well.

More than 6,200 used company laptops, PCs and smartphones have been given a “second life” in recent years thanks to a cooperation between Bertelsmann and the nonprofit IT refurbisher AfB Social & Green IT. Much of the decommissioned hardware is still fully functional; it is deleted, refurbished, and resold at AfB – including to employees. In this way, the useful life of a cell phone, for example, is extended from around three years to five years. Secondary use of these devices also conserves valuable resources and cuts down on energy, CO₂ and water consumption. AfB has now documented the specific extent of the ecological impact achieved since 2013 in a certificate issued to Bertelsmann SE & Co. KG. Other Group units besides the Corporate Center also work with AfB : Arvato Systems (since 2014), Riverty (since 2015), G+J Deutschland (since 2022) and RTL Technology (since 2010, formerly CBC). AfB stands for Arbeit für Menschen mit Behinderung, which translates to “Work for People with Disabilities,” and is a recognized inclusion company.

“Reliable, sustainable, and in a spirit of partnership – Our cooperation with Bertelsmann proves how circularity can work in the IT industry. Since 2013, we have collected devices at Bertelsmann, deleted the data storage devices with certified software, checked the devices and outfitted them with the latest operating system in each case,” said AfB Managing Director Daniel Büchle last Thursday during the presentation of a certificate at Bertelsmann’s Corporate Center in Gütersloh. “We sell the as-new hardware to private individuals, associations, small and medium-sized enterprises, or arrange for them to be donated to schools.” Stephan Gräfe, Senior Vice President Corporate Center IT, explained, “The production of IT equipment generates CO₂ emissions, which we account for throughout the Group at Bertelsmann. Reducing IT emissions is part of our climate goals and Bertelsmann’s ESG program. In addition to ensuring the longest possible useful life for our IT equipment through responsible handling by employees and in-house refurbishment, our cooperation with sustainable suppliers, as well as third-party refurbishment and recycling by companies such as AfB also contribute to this.” Julian Smith, Manager Environment in Bertelsmann’s Corporate Responsibility team, also emphasized that by working with AfB, Bertelsmann companies can ensure that important resources are used for as long as possible. “In AfB, we also have a partner who has a particular focus on social and environmental sustainability,” added Smith. His recommendation for Group companies that have not yet established a process for the downstream use of discarded IT equipment is to reach out to AfB or consider comparable approaches.

Retired IT equipment protects the environment and promotes inclusion

Thanks to a 2021 life cycle assessment study by the climate protection organization Myclimate, AfB can quantify the specific savings achieved: Of the 6,205 IT devices at the Corporate Center that were handed over to AfB in recent years, more than 78 percent were recycled. In the case of PCs, the reuse rate was as high as 92 percent. This translates to savings of more than 2.5 million kilowatt hours of energy, a good 4.9 million liters of water, and around 660 metric tons of CO₂ equivalents. The latter is equivalent to around 200 airplane trips from New York to Berlin and back. Defective hardware is used for spare parts or recycled to recover raw materials. In addition, this has made it possible to employ a person with disabilities, as the refurbishment of IT equipment is carried out by some 650 AfB employees, about 50 percent of whom have disabilities.

AfB Social & Green IT specializes in certified data deletion, professional refurbishment, and the resale of used IT hardware. To this end, AfB cooperates with about 1,600 companies, banks, insurance companies, and public institutions throughout Europe. The refurbished equipment is then sold online or in the AfB store at significantly lower prices than new goods and with a minimum twelve-month warranty. In this way, new production is avoided, thus reducing emissions and electronic waste and conserving valuable resources. AfB is the largest nonprofit IT company in Europe, and has received accolades including the IT Distri Award Refurbishing & Remarketing (2022), the German Sustainability Award (2012 and 2021) and the special prize of the German SDG Award 2022 for its Green IT concept.