Let’s close the loop on materials!

The focus of the report is closing the loop on materials. Why? 

• Annika: We all know that digitization makes IT more and more important. At the same time devices contain sensitive minerals and a lot of plastics. Energy consumption is high and resources are finite. There are also a lot of social risks connected to the minerals. Companies have targets around their climate footprint and resource efficiency. IT is a big part of that but it is rarely talked about. Knowing all that, the issue of materials became very important.
• Josefin: Adding to that, the production is responsible for the majority of the CO2 emissions in an IT product’s lifecycle. . Our reasoning was that closing the loop on materials addresses all these sustainability aspects. Reduced need for raw materials means less pressure on the environment and social aspects.
• Annika: And then we had the underlying survey where 600+ IT buyers declared they want more recycled content and resource efficiency from the industry.
• Josefin: We discussed a lot whether we should focus on the climate issue or human rights and so on. Circularity embraces all of these aspects.
• Annika: Good point! Circularity became the uniting force.

In circular economy, prolonged lifespan is favored above recycling. Still you choose to focus on materials. How come?

• Annika: You need to design the products so that smaller components can be replaced. That was something we discussed a lot, for example if a laptop is constructed so that functionality can be upgraded while the majority of the material is kept intact, users can still stay up to speed with the technological advancements that drive demand today. So it is all connected. Prolonging lifespan is a way to minimize use of materials.
• Josefin: Also the fact that you need to be able to upgrade the software so that hardware isn’t replaced because of software-integration issues. This is something we often see in my organization.
• Josefin: We also talked about how this requires a change of business models. In today’s models manufacturers often lack incentives for prolonging the lifespan.

This year the Advisory Board put a lot of emphasis on involving the buyers. How come?

• Annika: First of all it’s a question of transparency and credibility. We as buyers want to know products’ footprint and if they’re manufactured responsibly. This can only be achieved through an open dialogue. But even more important is dialogue as a way of accelerating innovation by setting the right criteria. I have seen many examples where buyers set ambitious criteria that lead to nowhere or even contradict the purpose  because of a lack of understanding of what impact the criteria has on the production process. 
• Josefin: I can only agree. For public buyers when the tendering process starts the criteria are already set and few changes can be made. Through a dialogue with the industry we can achieve sharper and more relevant criteria that more actors can meet and by that move the industry bit by bit.

What is your most important message to someone you think should read the report?

• Josefin: This report contains concrete and useful information on what both you as a buyer and you as a supplier can do to transform to a more sustainable management of IT. I will give it to all my colleagues in procurement as inspiration. 
• Annika: And to those outside of IT or purchasing I say: Read this report if you want to see how a few buyers, by uniting behind clearly defined demands, can affect a whole industry. There is a tremendous power in joining forces.
• Josefin: And the focus on dialogue between buyers and the industry makes this report special.

What do you want the report lead to?

• Annika: That the industry will sit down to find a way to become more circular, use materials more efficiently and be more innovative in their sustainability efforts. But also that we as buyers will understand what incentives we need to provide. Thirdly, that we through dialogue will set better criteria and that the industry will respond to that with better business models.
• Josefin: I hope it will lead to a closer collaboration between the industry and the buyers. That reaching out to a supplier between tendering periods will be a natural thing. 

How do you think the industry has responded to the work of Atea Sustainability Focus so far?

• Annika: I am truly impressed by how the industry embraced the messages of the previous reports and how they have taken action, for example with the transparency guide that was a direct response to the first report. And also the fact that they really want a good dialogue.
• Josefin: We can see a lot happening even with products where it has been a bit uphill sustainability wise, so hopefully in a few years’ time we will have more sustainable products on the market and more services like repair and leasing of used equipment. 

Any final message?

• Annika: Yes! Even if we are Lilliputians on a global scale we can drive change.
• Josefin: Exactly, when it comes to sustainability other countries look at the Nordics, but we at the City of Malmö could never have done this on our own.