Corporate recycling initiatives have gone beyond basics, and IT leaders play a crucial role in that. From physical to digital waste, recycling can help teams hit their ESG goals.
Corporate recycling initiatives used to be the purview of the facilities department and consisted of blue bins in the break room.
Now, recycling plays a significant role in environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies, and IT leaders sit at the center of this shift. Data centers, networks, endpoints and software all affect the environment. They also generate data that can make a waste reduction program measurable and credible.
"Initially, [corporate recycling] was completely driven by people who were passionate and wanted to do the right thing," said Dr. Liz Goodwin, senior fellow at the World Resources Institute. "Over time, pressure from shareholders, customers and employees, and the recognition that there is a financial business case for doing the right thing as well, has moved recycling into the mainstream."
Meanwhile, organizations began to shift away from a narrow focus on recycling toward a broader circular economy mindset. That shift requires better data, better planning and a more intentional role for CIOs and IT directors.
"They help with a lot of the data transparency around the organization," Goodwin said. "IT leaders make sure managers and leaders have the information they need to do the right thing in the most efficient way."
The importance of corporate recycling initiatives
For technology leaders, recycling goes beyond an environmental issue. It covers asset management, system design and performance reporting.
"Data centers, networks and end-user devices all create carbon waste, making it a critical area of focus for organizations committed to reducing e-waste and meeting corporate and global emissions goals," said Kathy Rudy, partner and chief of data and analytics at ISG, a research and advisory firm.
IT teams that treat e-waste and asset lifecycle as a management problem, not a disposal problem, can see significant gains, according to Rudy. When organizations examine what actually happens to equipment at the end of its useful life, they often discover that devices go straight from the user's desk to a recycling bin or landfill, even though they still have life left in them.
"You start asking different questions," Rudy said. "Can we refurbish and use this somewhere else? Can we donate it? Can parts be reused instead of going into a trash bin?"
That mindset reflects a broader trend. By 2028, 75% of enterprises will set IT asset circularity goals, with 90% of assets returned to the circular economy and 20% sourced as renewed, according to IDC. That activity drives cost savings and stronger vendor ties, according to Lara Greden, senior research director for IaaS solutions, flexible consumption and circular economy at IDC. End-of-life asset disposition is also becoming a key component of ROI for leasing and as a service procurement models, Greden said.
With that context in mind, IT leaders can approach a corporate recycling initiative as both an environmental program and a data management opportunity.
Step 1: Conduct a waste audit
A corporate recycling initiative must start with a clear view of what the organization uses and discards. From there, IT can help build a modern waste audit that covers both physical and digital footprints. On the physical side, that includes the following:
Device lifecycles.
Where assets live.
How they move through the organization.
What happens when they retire.
On the digital side, it includes energy consumption in data centers and technical waste created by inefficient software and unnecessary data storage.
Here's a typical starting point, according to Rudy: Organizations must assemble a basic inventory of what they own, what they have decommissioned and what they did with that inventory. Without that baseline, they cannot quantify a waste reduction program or answer detailed questions on ESG questionnaires.
"It is not the framework that is hard; it is the data," she said. "If you do not have a structured program, you are starting from scratch."
IT leaders make sure managers and leaders have the information they need to do the right thing in the most efficient way.
Dr. Liz GoodwinSenior fellow at the World Resources Institute
Many companies also focus only on disposal costs and miss the full cost of lost input materials and the labor involved in handling waste, according to Goodwin. For example, a company might focus on packaging disposal costs but not handling costs within the factory or site, she said.
Digital tools can help. Organizations are increasingly integrating configuration management databases, asset tracking systems, utility feeds, and general ledger data into ESG platforms, Rudy said. That approach offers real-time visibility into energy use, asset status and waste flows. It also sets the stage for the next step in the initiative.
Step 2: Set goals aligned with corporate sustainability metrics
Once an organization understands its baseline, it needs clear, meaningful goals for its corporate recycling initiative. Both Goodwin and Rudy stressed that these goals must connect directly to broader ESG and corporate priorities.
A meaningful recycling goal needs to be measurable and tangible, Goodwin said. She recommended translating targets into real-world equivalents that people can understand, such as the number of cars removed from the road or the amount of water saved.
"If you know that recycling is going to allow you to heat a kettle for two hours, that is useful," she said.
One of IT's most essential goals is to extend device lifecycles and prioritize end-of-life refurbishing before recycling, Rudy said. In practice, that means rethinking standard refresh policies.
"We used to see across the board a three-year refresh cycle," she said. "Now we are seeing [up to] five years in some places. Organizations are being more thoughtful about what waste a refresh generates and where they can reuse devices based on user persona and purpose."
However, IT leaders still need to protect the user experience, Rudy said. Devices that remain in for service too long can frustrate employees and hurt productivity. She recommended a realistic lifecycle target that aligns with the organization's support model and user expectations, as well as clear communication about why the policy exists.
From a reporting standpoint, Rudy pointed to metrics such as the ratio of reused, refurbished and recycled devices to total waste. Organizations that report externally must align with frameworks such as the Global Reporting Initiative and with new regulations, such as the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.
Step 3: Create a recycling plan
With goals in place, IT leaders can build a recycling plan that integrates process design, innovative waste management tools and strong vendor partnerships. Goodwin recommended a plan that follows a simple cycle of planning, doing, reviewing and improving, and involves employees in its creation so it reflects reality on the ground and gains buy-in.
On the technology side, organizations can use analytics and automation to manage both physical and digital waste. Digital tools can bring the scale of waste issues into focus, Goodwin said, so managers can view trends and hotspots graphically rather than through a single summary number.
IDC's Greden highlighted the role of IT asset disposition (ITAD) services in a circular economy strategy. IDC research indicates that 85% of enterprises already include ITAD services in corporate sustainability policies. However, fewer than half have measurable goals for IT asset circularity, which leaves room for improvement.
Security sits at the center of that plan. Data sanitization and secure chain of custody are the top challenges for organizations seeking to reuse assets rather than destroy them, Greden said. Certifications and comprehensive documentation from service providers help prevent data breaches and support regulatory compliance.
Step 4: Encourage employee engagement
Even the best-designed recycling plan will stall without active employee participation. Empowerment matters more than incentives, Goodwin said. Organizations can succeed by making it clear that recycling and waste reduction matter, and empowering local champions to act.
Communication also plays an important role. Many IT organizations have started to reset expectations around device refresh cycles, explain the environmental impact and promise support when problems arise, Rudy said. That approach reframes the refresh policy as part of a corporate recycling initiative rather than a cost-cutting measure.
"If you let them know why and give the environmental context, people are much more understanding," she said.
Digital tools can reinforce engagement by making results visible. Dashboards that show reductions in waste, greenhouse gas emissions or water use, and translate those reductions into tangible equivalents, can help employees see how their participation affects the waste reduction program.
Step 5: Continue to measure and report
A corporate recycling initiative does not end once the bins arrive and dashboards go live. IT leaders must treat measurement and reporting as an ongoing discipline.
On the metrics side, Goodwin suggested tracking absolute quantities, percentages, financial value and environmental impacts, such as greenhouse gas emissions and water use. Rudy recommended tracking reuse, refurbishment and recycling as shares of total waste, by both count and weight. She also stressed the need for asset lineage, third-party recycling certificates and proof that disposal did not lead to contamination.
Audit-ready recycling data should reflect certified disposal reports from partners and, ideally, third-party verification, Rudy said. She compared it to financial audits. The data should not just exist in a spreadsheet that IT hands to the sustainability team. It should be traceable and certified.
Corporate recycling now sits at the intersection of environmental responsibility and information management. IT leaders who treat it as a core part of their digital transformation agenda can help their organizations cut costs, reduce risk, meet ESG obligations and move closer to a circular economy, one asset at a time.
Christine Campbell is a freelance writer specializing in business and B2B technology.
