How the circular economy applies to enterprise mobile phones
A circular economy addresses environmental impact at every stage of the mobile device lifecycle, from sustainable procurement to extending device life to recycling old devices.
Many factors go into mobile device procurement, and sustainability is one that IT decision-makers should take seriously.
Sustainability is vital to every aspect of mobile management. An IT approach that prioritizes sustainability reduces costs, strengthens regulatory compliance and shows customers and employees that the organization operates with a sense of responsibility.
An important way that IT teams can incorporate sustainability into their business practices is through device recycling. This helps curb the proliferation of e-waste and its negative effects. Organizations can face severe consequences for improper device disposal, and recycling is a sustainable way to fend off those risks.
But what about the other side of the mobile device lifecycle? Administrators should procure devices in a sustainable manner as well. The precious metals and elements in electronic devices aren't just harmful when they're added to landfills at their end of life (EOL). The process to acquire these raw materials in the first place is also dangerous and resource intensive.
To minimize the environmental effects of manufacturing and using smartphones, mobile admins should adopt the circular economy model. With this model, the materials that go into electronic devices are in use for much longer and take on new uses through repair and refurbishment.
What is a circular economy?
For years, the prominent economic model in manufacturing has been the linear economy. In this system, businesses extract materials to make products, and consumers buy and use those products. Then, when users are done with a product, they throw it away.
The linear model can be profitable for manufacturers and convenient for consumers. A product with a short lifespan might create repeat customers and is cheaper to build than a product that will last for years. Throwing a used product in the garbage takes less time, money and thought than repairing or otherwise recycling it.
However, the linear economy contributes significantly to waste, pollution, biodiversity loss and other drivers of climate change. Even if IT recycles devices at the end of this cycle instead of discarding them, negative effects are inevitable. The process to subsequently replace those devices requires more mining and results in more e-waste than is necessary.
Adopting a circular economy model makes both device procurement and device retirement less wasteful.
The circular economy is a sustainable alternative. In this system, the goal is to use fewer natural resources and create less waste by repairing, reusing and recycling materials. When a product can no longer serve its original purpose, organizations can find a new use for it or break it down to its components for use in other products. With electronic equipment, if certain components aren't functional anymore, IT asset disposition (ITAD) providers and professional e-waste recyclers can still extract the valuable raw materials from them.
This model keeps materials in use for as long as possible. Enterprise organizations, in turn, can get more value out of the mobile devices they buy. Manufacturers build devices partially from used materials, and those devices stay in use until repair is infeasible or an upgrade is needed. Once that happens, the devices' components go into new products again, starting the cycle over.
How to adopt a circular economy model for enterprise mobile devices
Because the linear economy is still the norm, it's the easiest approach for many organizations to take. Shifting to a circular economy takes some work, but several benefits make the change worthwhile. IT can view these challenges and advantages through the stages of the mobile device lifecycle. Under a circular economy model, a cell phone's lifespan begins with sustainable procurement and ends with recycling.
Under a circular economy model, a cell phone's lifespan begins with sustainable procurement and ends with recycling.
Sustainable device procurement
In 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency found that manufacturing is the third-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., and it was the second-largest source when measuring both direct and indirect emissions. Electronic devices are just one part of this sector, but they pose some unique problems. The average smartphone contains a variety of plastics and metals, including rare earth metals. These precious metals are nonrenewable and difficult to mine. They're also harmful to human health and the environment when they're not handled properly.
It's hard to avoid these ethical and environmental issues when purchasing a standard mobile device. However, there are vendors out there that promote circularity and sustainability.
Organizations must vet providers carefully to confirm that the devices they buy come from a responsible source. Lay out clear criteria for sustainable device procurement. A vendor might claim to value sustainability, but do they have transparent, consistent reporting to back that up?
Ensure that vendors maintain a sustainable production model, prioritizing the use of recycled materials and fair labor practices. Organizations should also consider the longer-term sustainability details of the devices they buy, such as energy efficiency and support for repairs. If a device meets Energy Star's efficiency standards and has the support to stay in use for over two years, it will have a lower carbon footprint than some other options on the market.
Other sustainability factors related to initial purchase include packaging and shipment. As with any product, the process of getting mobile phones into the hands of users can involve a lot of unnecessary packaging and transportation emissions. Consider vendors that offer less wasteful packaging and use more eco-friendly shipping methods.
The process to build a mobile device involves mining various raw materials, which damages the ecosystem, depletes nonrenewable resources and puts workers at risk.
Extending device life
Quality and functionality don't become less important when shifting to sustainability-focused mobile device procurement. Choosing a device that will perform well for a long time does less damage to the environment and ultimately cuts costs.
As a result, support for upgrades and repairs is a must when choosing and working with a mobile device vendor. The sooner a device breaks, the sooner an organization needs to discard and replace it. To delay EOL, admins need to be able to easily fix minor hardware issues and replace device parts.
Software is also important for keeping mobile phones usable. Once they become too old to receive updates, performance and security can deteriorate. Before purchasing a device, confirm that it will be able to receive software updates throughout the time it will be in use. For iPhones, Apple generally provides updates for up to five or six years after the original release of each model. For Android phones, the Android Enterprise Recommended list specifies when devices will stop receiving security updates.
Beyond investing in reliable, adaptable hardware and software, a few best practices can help extend device life. To avoid physical damage to devices, provide external protection in the form of cases and screen protectors. Additionally, establish employee guidelines to discourage irresponsible use and define proper care instructions. When problems do arise, assess whether repairs are possible before rushing to device retirement and replacement.
Reusing functional devices
Sometimes a mobile phone still works well but can't serve its original user anymore. An employee might leave the company or get a promotion that requires them to use more specialized hardware, for example. In these scenarios, it's possible to give the device a second life.
Before moving onto recycling, organizations can get more value out of their devices by reusing or repurposing them. A new phone isn't necessary for every set of tasks. Older devices are just as effective for certain use cases, and enabling reuse can be easy.
Often, giving an old phone a second life simply means refurbishing it as needed, wiping it and deploying it to another employee. If the device won't be suitable for use within the organization, another option is to donate or resell it. In either scenario, it's crucial to properly erase all sensitive data first. ITAD providers can help to secure data and make sure devices are in good working condition.
Recycling unserviceable devices
Once a smartphone is too old for repurposing, it can reenter the supply chain through mobile device recycling. Again, data deletion comes first in this process. Then, if the organization bought the smartphone through a vendor that provides options for recycling at EOL, the next step is to send it back. Otherwise, the organization should find a third-party e-waste recycler to send the device to.
The vendor or third-party provider then takes care of the last part of the cycle -- either refreshing the device for resale or recycling it. Recycling should involve extracting materials such as gold and palladium for use in other products and following regulatory guidelines for environmental safety.
After that, the cycle restarts. The organization replaces the old mobile phone with a new one, and in keeping with the circular economy, that device should be partially made up of recycled materials. Some vendors offer trade-in programs so organizations earn credit toward new devices when they return old ones. Likewise, some recycling programs offer payment or gift cards for the value of the materials they'll strip from old devices. These initiatives can help save money and make it easier to continue implementing a circular business model.
Katie Fenton is associate site editor for TechTarget's Mobile Computing, Enterprise Desktop and Virtual Desktop sites.
