The world is currently facing an environmental crisis on a global scale, one that requires companies to do their part in addressing this challenge and reducing the negative environmental impact of their products. 

We have been doing our share in the telecommunications industry, focusing on a variety of ways to improve the energy efficiency of our networks. But to get to the next stage of sustainability, and to further reduce carbon emissions, we need to address the usage of materials and waste as they are also major contributors to the industry’s carbon footprint. And that requires a transition to a circular economy that has been trending in recent years across social, economic and environmental spheres.

As early as 2015, the United Nations introduced 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 12, titled “Responsible Consumption and Production”, which strongly aligns with the core principles of the circular economy.

The traditional attitude toward circular behavior has often been referred to as the 3R’s - reduce, reuse, recycle. But in our industry, we want to stretch even wider. With ICT products that contain a lot of electronics and materials, there is even more of a need to extend their lifetime at the highest utility level or maximum functional capacity and find environmentally efficient outlets.

Therefore, circular economy experts tend to speak in terms of the 9 R’s – rethink, reduce, reuse, repair, refurbish, remanufacture, repurpose, recycle and recover. (Some even speak in terms of 10 R’s, including “refuse” as well). Preserving high utility levels is a core goal of the 9 R’s in the circular economy, as it minimizes waste and optimizes resource use.

A recent revision of an international standard looks to address many of these elements – particularly reuse and refurbish - so that our industry can report its ESG activities more efficiently and transparently. In this way companies that adhere to the circular economy approach will be better able to meet their sustainability goals, as they now have the tools and processes to know the environmental impact of their reused or refurbished equipment.

A Nokia white paper that I authored with my colleagues expands on this, providing an overview of environmental impact assessment and reporting for circular products.

Circularity has become a necessity due to humanity's increasing need for natural resources. Businesses need to define their goals, reflect them against measurable metrics and monitor performance and improve upon it. As the saying goes: “What cannot be measured, cannot be improved.” So, we need a standardized way of assessing and reporting the environmental impacts when we sell and reuse products.

I'll be expanding upon all this today in Geneva, at the ITU-ETSI Symposium on ICT Sustainability detailing how standards can drive environmental innovation in my talk about the life cycle assessment for circular products.

Squaring the circle

In an era of digitalization and net-zero goals, it is necessary to establish the transition from a linear economy to a circular economy. The European Commission’s aim for the circular economy is defined as decoupling economic growth from resource consumption “where the value of products, materials and resources is maintained in the economy for as long as possible, and the generation of waste is minimized.”

Therefore, the EU launched a new Circular Economy Action Plan in 2020 to achieve more sustainable development models and meet its 2050 net-zero target.

The benefits of such a circular economy extend beyond achieving climate goals and reducing resource consumption. It also enhances business profitability, creates new commercial opportunities and improves supply chain resilience. The development of digital technologies provides essential support for achieving cradle-to-cradle cycles in the circular economy, in contrast to the traditional cradle-to-grave approach, where products are created, used and discarded.

Transforming an economy into one that is cleaner and more competitive requires collaborative efforts across industries. This transformation must involve comprehensive and systematic changes, integrating ecological principles into design stages to minimize resource consumption and waste generation. It necessitates cooperation throughout the entire value chain. By working together with their suppliers and customers, companies can reduce their own environmental impact as well as those of their customers and suppliers. Refurbishing and reusing will be essential pillars of a circular economy.

A marketplace for buying and selling ICT equipment is not enough on its own. Robust services, processes and workflows are required to refurbish such equipment, including component replacement, data erasure, software upgrade, certification and more. Once upgraded equipment is available, a global standard is necessary to seamlessly integrate these refurbished assets into service provider networks, ensuring the correct embodied environmental impact is accounted for. This standard would enable new owners to fully benefit from the advantages of their refurbished or reused equipment, eliminating any ambiguity or burden in calculating embodied emissions and hence, fostering adoption.

It is especially essential to embrace circularity in our telecommunications industry.

No standard problem

Our white paper provides a roadmap on how to get there, and it begins with standards.

The environmental impact of a product generally known as product footprint is assessed by the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology.

The environmental LCA of information and communication technology goods, networks and services, in ITU-T L.1410 standard, was originally developed a decade ago, and has now evolved into a circular model as well, with enhanced guidance on reuse, refurbishment, circular processes and multiple life cycles.

Once a product comes to the end of its first use, the lifetime of the product can be extended to a second life cycle by refurbishing it and putting it back into the market. The resulting environmental footprint from refurbishment is assessed by identifying the material and energy flows involved, collecting data for these, and mapping them to the related environmental impact.

Nokia initiated efforts in June 2022 to propose to incorporate circular processes into the ITU-T L.1410 LCA standard and has been leading this work over the past two years, with the revised standard published last month.

We argue in our whitepaper that product footprint and company footprint need to become intertwined since service providers are asking for product-embodied emissions for their company ESG reporting. We analyzed in our study the common grounds and differences in product footprint and company footprint. Possible future standardization should also be considered for company footprint standards to align with the need for company reporting on circular products.

Up till now, there have been many differences among company environmental reporting standards. They have not been well harmonized in their approaches and terminologies. Better alignment is crucial.

Nokia is ready to lead the circular ICT sector

Nokia is bringing the circular economy into action, with up to a 90% reduction in embodied emissions in circular products, almost 50,000 units refurbished, and 2,900 metric tons of e-waste recycled, as of 2023. We also inform our customers about the embodied emissions of the products they are purchasing, including those that are refurbished. Updated circularity-related definitions in the revised ITU-T L.1410 standard are helpful in communicating with customers.

But Nokia is not alone. Service providers are also committed to a circular economy. Sectoral targets for service providers provided by the GSMA contain goals for reuse, resell and recycle of collected mobile phones and network equipment.

For example, Deutsche Telecom’s 2023 annual report stated that it aims to be 100% circular by 2030 in terms of terminal equipment and network technology. Orange said that the circular economy and the further application of its principles, is a strong ambition in its “Lead the Future” strategic plan. Telefonica said that its decarbonization plan included reducing value chain emissions through suppliers’ engagement and circular economy. T-Mobile US embraced circular economy as a priority and will focus on extending the useful life of equipment and devices. And Airtel has adopted a "War on Waste" strategy, integrating circularity into their operations.

The revised ITU-T L.1410 LCA standard with circular practices is a great start for the circularity journey in the ICT sector. My presentation at the ITU-ETSI Symposium today aims to inspire greater support and adoption of this vital standard. I encourage integrating circular practices into additional standards and urge companies—and the global community—to fully embrace the circular economy at its highest utility level.