IDC: Add used IT gear to the mix to stretch budgets, support sustainability

Reducing e-waste and extending the useful life of IT gear are top recycling drivers, according to an IDC survey.

The most commonly cited motivation was to reduce e-waste, with more than half those surveyed in Latin America, Western Europe, and Asia-Pacific, citing it, and with US respondents falling just shy of 50%. The IDC Spotlight survey results of 540 respondents was conducted in February 2023 and written by IDC Research Vice President, Flexible Consumption and Financing Strategies for IT Infrastructure.

Reducing e-waste was also the most frequent response regardless of region except for the US, where improving useful life and obtaining value for older gear was most common.

Other responses, each of which were factors for more than 25% of those who answered the survey, included corporate mandate to improve sustainability metrics, tax incentives for recycling, regulatory requirements, and allowing employees to buy their devices at end-of-life.

Used equipment can reduce procurement cycles, increase the inventory of spare parts, and stretch IT budgets, IDC recommends.

It also says organizations should build internal teams to set goals to increase use of refurbished gear and report their sustainability achievements to senior leadership.