Pliezhausen, 14. February 2024. DATAGROUP gives used corporate IT such as laptops, PCs, and smartphones a second life in cooperation with non-profit IT refurbisher AfB social & green IT. Last year, almost 8,500 devices were refurbished by DATAGROUP, which has extended their service life. It is planned to widen the scope of cooperation over the next few years.

AfB deletes old data, refurbishes, and resells hardware that has been sorted out but is still fully operational. This ensures that the service life of the hardware is extended, resources are preserved, and energy, CO₂ and water are saved. Thanks to a life cycle assessment study by myclimate (2021), AfB can measure exactly what has been saved: Of the 8,451 IT devices handed over to AfB in the last year, more than 76% were remarketed. PCs even had a reutilization rate of as much as 100 %. In concrete terms, DATAGROUP has saved 4,147,229 kWh of energy, 7,665,035 liters of water and 1,056,869 kg of CO₂ equivalent. The latter corresponds to roughly 503 flights from New York to Berlin and back. Defect hardware is either repaired or disassembled, which produces spare parts or allows for raw material recycling. Additionally, this has secured the jobs of five people with disability. Because IT refurbishing is carried out by some 60 AfB employees, half of which are severely disabled.

“Our cooperative and reliable partnership with DATAGROUP illustrates how successful circular economy is implemented in the IT industry. What is more, it also contributes to inclusion in the mainstream labor market. We have collected IT and mobile devices that are no longer needed from DATAGROUP’s sites since 2020. All data is then deleted with certified software, the equipment is tested, and the current operating system installed. The refurbished hardware finds its way to private individuals, associations, small and mid-sized companies, and retailers or is specifically donated to schools”, explains Daniel Büchle, Managing Director of AfB.

“We at DATAGROUP do not only view sustainability as a responsibility but also as an integral part of our company values. The partnership with AfB social & green IT is an important step on our path towards a green and socially responsible IT industry”, adds Andreas Baresel, Chief Executive Officer of DATAGROUP. “We plan to widen the scope of our cooperation with AfB going forward.”