A longer life for your IT hardware? Use the R-ladder

IT hardware is part of our daily lives. In museums, on stages, in libraries, and art institutions, we cannot do without equipment to engage the public, make collections accessible, reach target groups, create online offerings, and much more. 

For a computer weighing 2 kilograms, 800 kilograms of raw materials and one and a half tons of water are needed. Plus, of course, the necessary energy. Moreover, current geopolitical instability exposes vulnerabilities and dependencies in the supply of raw materials needed for our IT hardware, which is indispensable for digital transformation. 

Reducing dependency on critical materials from countries with which we have unstable relations takes time. By using the R-ladder in a more sustainable IT hardware policy, you start by extending the lifespan of equipment. A more sustainable hardware policy not only saves resources and emissions but also costs! Good hardware policy is a prerequisite for sustainable innovation within the cultural sector.

An important part of a hardware policy is lifecycle management. This includes, for example, determining when hardware is replaced. The R-ladder is a useful tool for thinking about the circularity of items like computers and smartphones. The higher the step on the R-ladder, the more circular the strategy is. R1 is the most circular, and R6 is the least.

For each step, we pose several questions to help make hardware policy more sustainable.

R-ladder

R1. Refuse and Rethink

Ask these questions:

• Does our organization need new equipment?
• Can we postpone or even skip the purchase?
• Is there a form of collaboration possible where equipment (e.g., for video recording for streaming purposes) is shared?

Not purchasing is the most sustainable option.

R2. Reduce

Ask these questions:

• How much do we need?
• Does every device need to be replaced, or can some last longer?

By encouraging employees to handle their laptops and phones carefully and providing good protective cases for devices, they last longer and reduce environmental impact. Turning off all hardware when not in use also contributes to a longer lifespan and saves energy.

R3. Re-use

Ask this question:

• Is the equipment suitable for reuse, internally or externally?

If your organization has very strict hardware requirements, making replacement mandatory, there may be external parties that have a good reuse purpose for old laptops and smartphones.

R4. Repair, Refurbish, and Repurpose

Ask these questions:

• Can the equipment be repaired or refurbished?
• Is there another purpose for the equipment, allowing it to be used longer?

When purchasing, pay attention to repairability and modular design (e.g., Fairphone), so broken parts can be easily replaced. The European directive Right to repair promotes repairability. During refurbishment, parts that still work but are expected to fail are proactively replaced.

R5. Recycling

Ask this question:

• Is recycling really the only remaining option?

Offer e-waste for recycling only if R1 through R4 are no longer possible. While recycling has long been considered a sustainable strategy, the earlier phases in the sustainability ladder are more sustainable. Recycling requires a lot of energy, and not all materials from a laptop or smartphone are suitable for it. Every smartphone contains a large portion of the elements from the periodic table (e.g., gold and silver). Recycling small amounts is often hardly worthwhile, as it costs a lot of time, energy, and money.

R6. Recover

Ask this question:

• Is there no other option than destroying the old devices?

The energy released during the incineration of waste can be reused. In a circular economy, as few materials as possible end up in this phase.

Tips for a sustainable hardware policy