Lenovo Extending the life of technology has always been one of the most effective ways to reduce electronic waste and lower the carbon emissions associated with manufacturing new devices. Today, however, the case for refurbishment has become even stronger. As organisations face mounting pressure to cut both costs and carbon emissions, driven by tighter budgets, interim net-zero targets and expanding sustainability reporting requirements, they need practical solutions that deliver on both fronts.
James Pennington, Director of Global Sustainability Services, and Pim Oudejans, Strategy Manager, Global Sustainability Solutions.
Certified Refurbished devices offer exactly that, reducing acquisition costs while lowering environmental impact. Yet despite these benefits, adoption is often held back by a lack of confidence rather than a lack of intent. Procurement teams increasingly need credible, auditable carbon data that allows them to compare refurbished devices with new ones and build a robust business case for those purchasing decisions.
Until recently, organisations have had surprisingly little robust data to help them quantify the benefits of choosing refurbished devices over new ones. Addressing this confidence gap starts with better evidence. Lifecycle assessments (LCAs) provide a standardised way to measure the environmental impact of a product across its lifecycle, creating the data organisations need to compare refurbished and newly manufactured devices on a like-for-like basis. By translating that analysis into a Product Carbon Footprint (PCF), procurement teams can make more informed decisions that balance sustainability objectives with commercial priorities.
Lenovo recently applied this approach to its LCR devices are approximately 50% less carbon-intensive than latest-generation newly manufactured devices. This is a landmark achievement in sustainability.
For me, this represents a turning point for the IT industry. As high-quality carbon data becomes more widely available, circularity can move from being an aspiration to an informed business decision. With refurbished IT providing a powerful, measurable decarbonization lever that will also cut IT budgets in a time of rising component costs.
The changing regulatory landscape
We’ve seen carbon reporting evolve rapidly over the past few years. Everyone wants organisations to communicate the environmental impact of the products we are buying and eventually disposing of.
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is raising these expectations around ‘environmental disclosures’ across Europe, and the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) is pushing for more consistent reporting globally. At the same time, organisations working towards Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi v2) commitments are concentrating on reducing value chain emissions, particularly Scope 3 emissions, which often account for the largest share of an organisation’s carbon footprint.
With all these systemic changes across the globe, it’s safe to say that estimates are no longer enough. As sustainability reporting matures and assurance requirements increase, credible lifecycle data is becoming an essential.
The problem with estimates and the need for data
Many organisations still estimate emissions using spend-based methodologies. They provide a useful starting point, but price doesn’t always reflect environmental impact. In fact, this approach often skews towards conservative, worst-case figures and higher purchase prices can be misconstrued to represent higher emissions, even for more durable and energy-efficient products. Two devices may have very different purchase costs yet similar carbon footprints, or the more expensive product may actually generate fewer emissions over its lifetime because it’s built to last longer.
By measuring emissions across the entire second life of our devices including our remanufacturing process, as a sector we can now understand where emissions occur and compare products on a consistent basis. This is the approach Lenovo has taken with our latest PCFs. More than 100 Lenovo Certified Refurbished ThinkPad models now have individual PCFs, specific to the device and the geography in which it is used. We’ve secured third-party assurance for our compliance with ISO 14067, and we are providing organisations with data that can support sustainability reporting as well as procurement decisions.
This will be particularly important for reporting on Scope 3 emissions, which are among the hardest to measure because they extend across complex global supply chains. PCFs won’t solve every reporting challenge, they can certainly provide organisations with a stronger foundation. They help identify emissions hotspots, compare materials and manufacturing processes more effectively and ultimately support more informed purchasing decisions.
Turning circular IT into measurable business value
Achieving this requires more than good intentions. If circular IT is to become a mainstream procurement strategy, organisations must be able to trust refurbished devices in exactly the same way they trust new ones. That means enterprise-grade refurbishment cannot simply be about extending a product’s life. It must deliver the same confidence in security, reliability, performance, and support that IT leaders expect from any strategic technology investment.
This is where rigorous refurbishment standards become essential. Secure data sanitisation, comprehensive inspection, component replacement where required, functional testing, and enterprise warranties are not value-adds – they are the baseline requirements that enable circular procurement to scale. Without them, refurbished devices risk being viewed as a compromise. With them, they become a lower-carbon alternative that can be deployed confidently across an organisation.
Better evidence can help accelerate circular IT
Refurbished technology has always offered the promise of extending product lifecycles and reducing waste. The difference is, now we can quantify those benefits with far greater precision. Developments such as digital product passports and better lifecycle assessments will give organisations an even better understanding of the environmental impact of the products they buy. This way, we have finally made it easier to embed sustainability into procurement decisions from the outset, rather than measuring it afterwards.
