Circular Economy in Telecoms

Whether or not the headline is accurate is not the point, the point is that we are a very wasteful lot, routinely squandering what this planet provides us. 91% or 50%, it should be zero percent, and there are so many ways in which we can all help toward this goal.

The telecom industry is certainly one of the more wasteful, a near perfect example of a Linear Economy; design, dig, build, sell, ship, use, dispose, repeat…

Only now are we waking up to the fact that there is a better way, the right way – Circular Economy; design-for-reuse, source from sustainable, stay local, use and reuse, repeat…

The irony is that not only is the Circular Economy model better for the environment, it’s also better for the pocket. It’s a real case of reducing waste means reducing cost.

Very clear choice, right?

Then why don’t we do it?

It’s a good question, and the answer is most often that “we’ve always done it that way”, or, “its easier to buy new than having the hassle of reuse”, and of course these are both “good” answers, but that does not make them the right answers.

It starts at the beginning, reuse is a planned process, and planning starts with design. Many telecom products are designed to be consumable, and we are not just talking about parts that wear out, but high value, complex system components, that cannot be repaired, or go out of viable reuse quickly due to changing technology.

The telecom industry’s hunger for continuous improvement, 4G is so “last year” and everyone wants 5G now, from core infrastructure to mobile devices, creates obsolescence.

But one person’s “last year” is someone else’s “today and tomorrow”.

So how do we achieve the change in the model from Linear Economy to Circular Economy, and change in the attitude towards it – to change the future?

There are initiatives and leaders already emerging, such as PACE (Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy - https://pacecircular.org). PACE reports:

“What could circularity for the electronics industry look like??

A. New products use more recycled and recyclable content

?Making electronic products from recycled materials, and ensuring they are designed to be recycled again at the end of their life, will reduce demand for natural resources and prevent pollution.

B. Products and their components are used for longer

Designing electrical products and their components for longevity, and changing consumer behaviour to make them?stay in use for longer, helps to reduce demand for new products. This cuts down resource use and other destructive environmental and social impacts from production and waste.

C. End-of-use products are collected and recycled to a high standard

In 2019,?54 million metric tons of e-waste was generated, of which just 17.4% was collected and recycled. In a circular economy, products no longer suitable for use or reuse are collected, sorted and recycled using socially and environmentally responsible practices. This prevents the pollution and health hazards associated with e-waste.”

At GSM Systems, and in partnership with our clients, we impact all these areas:

A – We cannot change directly this aspect, but we can influence manufacturers through buying choices. Telcos can signal their expectations that an item should be designed with circularity in mind by selecting manufacturers that provide products appropriately designed. This includes extended support (End-of-Life/Support comes too soon for many products), improved electro-mechanical design to reduce risk of fatal damage, and easier serviceability.

B – Extending an asset’s lifecycle is central to GSM Systems’ mission. As in point A, we can only influence the design element, but we directly and positively impact the lifecycle through locally delivered hardware services, EOS and EOL support and asset lifecycle management. Furthermore, GSM Systems Circular Economy programs ensure that all items that are no longer required in one telco have the opportunity to continue a useful life elsewhere.

C – When its finally time to declare an item of no further use (due to age, condition or functionality) GSM Systems have a robust and proven methodology for ensuring up-cycling of material where at all possible. We have carefully analysed all types of telecom equipment to identify the precious and limited resource content so that these can be fully recovered and reused.

In addition to the environmental impact, the positive value Circular Economy delivers is in financial terms, for example the cost of local Hardware Services can reduce the total cost of support by >80%, reductions in CapEx through Managed Reuse can drive it down by >60% and upcycling can improve the end-of-life return by 90%.

GSMS MISSION - To deliver optimal environmental and financial return on our partners’ technology assets?

GSMS VISION - A ubiquitous Circular Economy for technology capital assets

So now the decision clear. Contact GSM Systems today on [email protected] or call +27739727272