WWF

Case study

To align with the organisation's sustainability goals, WWF procured 560 remanufactured HP 840 G5 laptops and opted into Circular Computing's buy back scheme for a truly circular IT procurement approach.

WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) is one of the world's largest independent conservation organisations, active in nearly 100 countries. Their supporters - more than five million of them - are helping WWF to restore nature and to tackle the main causes of nature's decline, particularly the food system and climate change. WWF are fighting to ensure a world with thriving habitats and species, and to change hearts and minds so it becomes unacceptable to overuse our planet's resources.

The challenge

WWF-UK were looking to refresh their IT estate with a solution that would help the charity transition to a sustainable enterprise laptop estate, to continue their emissions reduction journey.

Their requirement was for all laptops to be EPEAT gold rated to support the reduction of their ecological footprint and preserve the planet’s natural resources at the same time. Beyond this, they needed a solution that stacked up against new in terms of the performance, warranty and longevity of the device.

There was an additional challenge in that brand new HP laptops were on at least a 3 month lead time for the specifications WWF-UK needed and the remanufactured Circular Computing machines were already in stock, meaning it was possible to turn this around quickly and efficiently.

The process

WWF-UK opened a tender process to deliver sustainable ICT equipment with a desired cost saving.

There was a perfect fit with WWF-UK’s environmental procurement policy, which requires all purchases to align to their sustainability goals, but to reduce the risk of commitment when using a new supplier, their ICT team wanted to trial 50 units within their organisation first.

These units were fully tested within their current environment.

WWF-UK explored the functionality, performance and benchmarked the laptops against their experience with new. This first-hand experience allayed any fears, allowing the ICT department to make a more informed purchase decision.

The solution

After successfully trialling 50 devices, WWF-UK purchased 510 HP EliteBook 840 G5 remanufactured laptops.

The solution from Circular Computing not only excelled against their demands in terms of operational performance, but the sustainability benefits allowed WWF-UK to play a key role in reducing their environmental impact and carbon footprint. An Advanced Replacement Warranty programme was offered across all devices, matching any brand-new equivalent model offering.

Additionally, as part of the project Circular Computing has bought back nearly 500 laptops from WWF-UK's estate and will look to put them through its recently launched ITAD programme, to give them a second lease of life through remanufacturing. This signifies a truly circular deal and will equal five additional trees being planted for each laptop in the buyback scheme.

THe Results

When refreshing their laptop estate, WWF-UK used it as an opportunity to embed sustainability criteria into their tender process and search for suppliers that can help them on their journey.

Dominic Elton, Head of IT Services, felt the experience has been really positive: not only does it send the right message to their peers, but it also aligns to their mission to change the way they purchase products across all parts of their organisation.

"We're delighted to be able to refresh our laptop estate with a truly sustainable, viable product, for the first time, thanks to our work with Circular Computing. We are facing a climate and nature crisis, and WWF-UK is focused on ensuring our own sustainability through procurement, including how we procure for IT. This is another step that will help to reduce our carbon footprint, without compromising on quality of delivery."

DOMINIC ELTON, Head of IT Services, WWF-UK

CO2 prevented

281 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent greenhouse gases prevented at manufacture

CO2 sequestered

720 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent greenhouse gases sequestered from the atmosphere

Water saved

169.4 million litres of water has been saved from the production of new materials

Reforestation

6,005 trees planted through our reforestation partners

"Electronic equipment, although essential to business operations, has a large environmental and social footprint. In our homes we reuse electronics, and many people choose refurbished or preowned tech. Bringing these sustainable consumption practices to the workplace is essential for reducing our ecological footprint and preserving the planet's natural resources. We hope more businesses will follow suit and give refurbished electronics a try."

LAUREN WISEMAN, Environmental Manager, WWF-UK

Quality without compromise

We produce leading brand remanufactured laptops.

Our BSI Kitemark™ certified process remanufactures laptops ‘to equal or better than new’, with up to 40% cost savings compared to the latest models and an RMA of less than 3%.

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