Achieving A Circular Economy - Reuse

This is the fifth in a series of ten articles discussing and factualizing the current and critical future state of our global supply and demand chain, especially as it relates to the Telecom and IT Industry.

?5 – Extend Lifespan – Reuse

?That phone you purchased 12 months ago is now so “last year” and it’s probably about time to head to the store and check out the latest offerings. Hopefully your not-so-old one will find its way to your kids or be traded in. But many are not.

?FACT: Less than 30% of the electronics we buy get a second life, with the majority collecting dust until they are no more useable or desirable.

?The numbers in the Telecom Industry are just as shocking, perhaps more so. Planned obsolescence, poor management, punitive write-down policies, even corruption, often make re-use challenging.

?The cost to reuse is artificially high as hardware and software compatibility gaps widen with age, write-down policies lock assets away whilst finance heads debate how to handle, the attitude “no one ever got fired for buying new”, and many more reasons or excuses keep the reuse potential and value very low.

?But many telecom assets have a very worthy reuse future, for example, moving a base station from heavy use in the city center, where its obsolete due to its low capacity, to a rural area providing new coverage to underserved communities, that’s adding value through reuse.

?GSM Systems are the Global Experts in Telecom Asset LifeCycle Management and specialize in Asset Recovery and Reuse. Our NetLife Technical Intelligence app provides detailed technical and operational data on almost all telecom network equipment allowing planned and valuable reuse or disposal to ensure maximum value recovery.

?Contact us today on +27739727272 or [email protected]