The service model offers a circular IT solution incorporating the principles of repair, reuse and recycling by extending equipment life by up to 15 years, refurbishing spare parts for reuse and offering a WEEE (Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment) compliant recycling service to prevent end-of-life equipment from becoming landfill waste.

Eighty percent of equipment’s lifetime emissions come from the manufacturing process. Evernex supports its customers to reduce waste and their carbon footprint while reducing opex and capex, by managing the lifecycle of their existing equipment. In 2021, the company provided service to nearly 360,000 assets worldwide and prevented the emission of c.114,000 tCO2e by delaying or avoiding equipment upgrades.

Progress on material topics

Circular spare parts and recycling

Evernex buys and refurbishes second- hand parts and reuses components where possible, enabling the company to act as a worldwide broker of refurbished spares, including parts that are no longer available from the original manufacturer. Currently, 30% of the components received by Evernex as ’IT waste’ are reused, representing more than 142,000 spare parts and more than 6,000 servers put back in service every year.

The remaining 70% contains valuable minerals such as steel and ores which are separated into secondary raw materials which re-enter the production cycle. Overall, 95% of computer equipment waste received by the company is recycled (500 tonnes). The company has over 330 stocking locations and 850,000 IT parts in stock globally, ensuring that customers have access to the spare parts they need locally, with minimal carbon impact from delivery. Shipments from the warehouse to stocking locations are grouped as much as possible to enable both efficiency and reduced environmental impact.

To support future growth in its recycling activities, in October 2022 Evernex opened a new 6,000m2 facility in Mitry-Compans, France. The opening of this facility, the largest reconditioning and recycling site for second-hand parts in EMEA, represents a key pillar of the company’s strategy by significantly increasing capacity for future recycling. Spare part processing capacity has potential to increase by 30%, while storage capacity will also increase by 40%.

As well as increasing capacity for recycling, a key objective of the new site was to create a positive environment for employees by improving working and safety conditions, enabling both performance and creativity of employees, and supporting the development of a strong corporate culture. A multi-functional project team conducted a review of each step in the production process to determine improvement opportunities, with changes implemented to improve efficiency and/or safety. One example included designing bespoke movable workstations which enable employees to safely assemble and move heavy equipment, eliminating any requirement for technicians to lift and carry products across the facility themselves.

GHG emissions reduction

Evernex was selected by ADEME, the French Agency for Ecological Transition, to join a three-year programme to establish a climate strategy, transition plan and decarbonisation roadmap. In 2022 the company completed the first year of the ‘ACT’ – Assessing Low Carbon Transition programme which involved establishing a full baseline and conducting an initial maturity assessment. This assessment demonstrated that most of Evernex’s emissions are derived from Scope 3 and over 90% result from the supply chain, sourcing and delivering materials, and shipping parts to customers. Analysis also demonstrated the benefits of Evernex’s reliance on second-hand spare parts, leading to 6,570 tCO2e of avoided emissions compared to buying new ones.

Currently in the second year of the ACT programme, Evernex is training its executive committee, building a reduction trajectory and action plan to achieve it, and establishing ongoing carbon performance KPIs in line with external frameworks which include TCFD, CDP and the SBTi.

Evernex’s customers are provided with Carbon Footprint Reduction certificates to raise awareness of the decarbonisation benefits provided through the Sustainable IT maintenance programme.