Lenovo Sustainability Solutions

Your end-of-life IT
hardware and thecircular economy
Asset Recovery Services - a
simple and effective solution toa growing e-waste problem.

Your end-of-life IT hardware and the circular economy | Lenovo whitepaper

A circular economy benefits
the environment and the IT industry
As IT resources become harder tofind and environmental damage
becomes exponentially worse,
embracing a circular economy
is more important than ever.
A circular economy simply
leverages existing resources andputs them back into the supply
chain instead of using them once
and throwing them away.
The economic advantages ofemploying a circular model forelectrical and electronics goods
could be enormous. As much as
7% of the world’s gold may becontained in e-waste and current
forecasts show that e-waste isworth $62.5 billion annually.1
Fortunately, the developmentof technological solutions andresources are revolutionizing
supply chains, product design andmaterials. Shifting to a circular
economy where we regularly reduce,reuse, and recycle can help reduce
the negative impacts of e-waste
and prevent further generation.2

However, within any asset recovery
process, successful circularparticipation requires e-waste to
be handled both securely and in ascalable manner. Harnessing thevalue from existing e-waste canhelp save significantly on material
costs and contribute to reducing
the carbon footprint of a product3.
With Lenovo Asset Recovery
Services (ARS), you can manage
IT in an environmentally conscious
way and optimize the long-termvalue potential of your hardware.

Effective e-waste
management can help
minimize the impact on theenvironment and contributeto improving the bottom line.

The problem of E-waste
E-waste has a huge negative impact on our global
environment and it’s getting worse every year.
Companies face increasing demands for innovative
products and solutions, even as resources are
becoming scarcer — and more expensive.

E-waste makes up

70% of our overall toxic waste.
50 million

The world produces more than
metric tons of e-waste a year, weighing morethan all the commercial airliners ever made.1

Only

20% of e-waste is formally recycled.

1The e-waste produced annually is worth
around$60 billion.

1

E-waste produced is projected to grow to74.7 million tons by 2030.

4

100 times

There ismore gold in a tonof e-waste than in a ton of gold ore.1

5Your end-of-life IT hardware and the circular economy | Lenovo whitepaper

The solution:
Asset Recovery Services
7 Steps for a Smarter
Circular Return
7. Receive
documentation andpayment or credit for
new IT investements

1. Identify idle IT assetsthat need replacing
or disposing

6. Have theassets recycled
or repurposedin accordancewith the highest
standards

2. Meetwith AssetRecoverySpecialists

5. Implement
your improved
lifecycle strategy

3. Experts
conduct aninventory andvalue asessment
4. Design
a custom AssetManagement Plan thatmeets your uniquebusiness needs

The Smarter Circular Returnprocess provide benefits froman environmental and security
standpoint. It also allows
for offsetting potential new
infrastructure costs, helping you
innovate and keep up with digitaltransformations in a sustainablemanner.
At Lenovo, our Asset Recovery
Services (ARS) team are building
processes with our partners tomaximize the reuse potential of IT
assets globally. Lenovo’s suppliers
follow the hierarchy of reuse first,
then recycle. So, IT parts that are
still in good shape can be harvested
for reuse and those devices nolonger suitable for repair andrefurbishment are recycled.
Since 2005, Lenovo has processedaround 324,811 metric tons ofcomputer equipment. In 2021,
Lenovo managed the processingof 34,163 metric tons of companyowned and customer-returned
computer equipment. Of this total,

5.5% was reused as products
or parts and 88.2% recycled asmaterials.6
For IT equipment that cannot berepaired and resold in secondary
markets, Lenovo ARS facilitates theevaluation of parts and components
for potential recycling. Any
components that can be recycled
go back into circulation to be usedin the manufacture of new products
for a more sustainable industry.
However, before this IT equipment
is reused, data is erased which,with the increasing value of data
and regulatory requirements forthe protection of PII, is critical to a
successful Asset Recovery solution.

We provide certified data
destruction services,
standard compliant data
erasure, serial number
scanning and reporting,and the reconciliation ofserial numbers of IT assets.

Smarter breathes newlife into the IT lifecycle.
Since 2008, Lenovo has enabled the recycling and reuse of 325 million kilograms of IT
products by FY 2025/26, at least 76% of repairable parts will be repaired for future use.6
We further contribute to the circular economy by using closed-loop post-consumer recycledcontent (CL PCR) in 248 of our products.6

Learn more about Lenovo
Asset Recovery Services
For further information on Lenovo’s efforts and performance in pursuing a sustainable future,click here.

WWServices – ARS_Whitepaper – 021023 – ExtIT – KN
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6.

https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/un-report-time-seize-opportunity-tackle-challenge-e-waste
https://ewastemonitor.info/e-waste-will-double-by-2050/
https://www.erm.com/insights/e-waste-turning-a-challenge-into-business-advantage/https://ewastemonitor.info/gem-2020/
https://www.theworldcounts.com/stories/electronic-waste-facts
Lenovo ESG Report 2022: https://investor.lenovo.com/en/sustainability/sustainability_reports.php

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