Circular IT hardware management
As we saw in the previous section, there are some significant environmental impacts during a product’s life cycle. The switch from a linear economy to a circular economy is pivotal in transitioning to a sustainable future. As we saw in Chapter 1, Our Most Significant Challenge Ahead, we are already consuming 1.75% of Earth’s resources and not regenerating enough to live within the constraints of planet Earth. In our current way of living, finite raw materials are extracted, or non-virgin plastics are used, the products are manufactured, products are shipped to a distribution point, the customer buys and uses the products, and at the end of the product lifetime, it is discarded with limited reused or recycled – the process is linear.
In the linear economy, we continue to deplete Earth’s natural resources, and once they have reached their end of life, they end up in a toxic landfill instead of being recycled. In the circular...
