Toronto – 2019 proved that sustainability is only going to grow in 2020. The CIO Association of Canada (CIOCAN) has partnered with CO2Neutral to help members reduce their carbon footprint and get recognized for their sustainability efforts. The CO2Neutral™ Program is an asset disposition service that allows organizations to trade in their End-of-First-Life™ technology in exchange for cashback and carbon credits to help offset their environmental footprint. To commemorate this partnership launch on November 21st 2019, CIOCAN and CO2Neutral will be holding a webinar on the topic of Leveraging the IT Sector to drive Sustainable Action on January 16th 2019.
The CIO Association’s President, Humza Teherany spoke in favour of this partnership. “This is a significant step forward for the technology sector and our members. By taking the lead to reduce our environmental footprint, we will help our companies become more competitive and efficient for future generations to come.”
The CO2Neutral Program
CO2Neutral is presenting a solution that addresses three pressing IT issues: the cost of aged IT Asset Disposition, environmental impact, and data security.
The CO2Neutral Program is an IT asset re-use initiative which consists of two complementary components: End-of-First-Life™ IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) and carbon emissions reduction. In terms of IT Asset Disposition, CO2Neutral offers a comprehensive approach to the disposal of decommissioned corporate IT assets (including notebooks, desktops, monitors, phones, tablets, printers, servers, network components, etc.) that allows organizations to leverage any residual value in those assets. CO2Neutral turns the net gains from IT asset disposition into cashback and carbon credits for organizations. Carbon credits are generated as a result of reselling these End-of-First-Life™ assets thus offsetting the emissions produced from manufacturing a brand new device.
This innovative solution leverages re-use to extend the life of IT assets and promote a circular economy, thereby creating a significant positive impact on an organization’s environmental footprint.
An organization can reduce the number of assets that need to be recycled by having CO2Neutral refurbish and resell those assets while they still have residual value. CO2Neutral has found that most assets returned for recycling can be resold. Reselling further reduces carbon emissions as processing technology for re-use has a smaller environmental footprint compared to recycling. When re-use is an option, the cost of disposition can be typically offset by the proceeds from resale. Assets that cannot be resold are safely and securely recycled so that no materials ever reach a landfill site.
Data bearing assets destined for resale are securely wiped clean in accordance with National Institute of Standards and Technology 800-88.
Carbon Reductions with CO2Neutral
So far, the program has deferred 500,000 tonnes of CO2e which is equivalent to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced by 106,157 passenger vehicles driven for one year.
The program’s carbon credits are registered and serialized as Verified Emission Reductions/Removals (VERRs) with the CleanProjects® Registry, operated by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA). Certificates for carbon credits are issued and all offsets are generated in accordance with ISO 14064-2 and independently verified in accordance with ISO 14064-3 standards.