Colt, a leader in digital infrastructure, has been awarded the Circular Economy Transition of the Year award for the EMEA region at the 2024 Sustainable Company Awards. This recognition highlights the success of the company’s pilot metal recycling project launched in Sweden.
Recognition for Sustainable Innovation
The Environmental Finance Sustainable Company Awards seek to highlight companies actively driving change in their approach to responsibility and sustainability. The award received by Colt recognizes outstanding initiatives demonstrating significant progress towards circular economy principles, celebrating organizations or projects that have successfully implemented innovative strategies to reduce waste, maximize resource efficiency, and promote sustainable practices.
Metal Recycling Pilot Project
Colt’s application focused on a metal recycling pilot project initiated in Sweden. As part of a broader end-of-life project, in 2023 the company partnered with Urban Miners, a specialized metal recycling company, to recycle SDH equipment (IT hardware) dismantled during a network upgrade in Sweden.
Innovative Approach and Results
Colt’s strategy focused on minimizing environmental impact by recovering valuable materials, reducing the need for new mining activities. The pilot approach involved reverse manufacturing processes, including:
- Careful deconstruction of each piece of equipment to extract valuable metals and components.
- Separation of materials into recyclable and reusable categories.
This method had minimal operational disruption but maximized material recovery. The results were impressive:
- 94% of equipment was recycled or reused (8.7 metric tons)
- 19 metric tons of CO2e were saved
- Avoided extraction of 102 metric tons of virgin materials
Expansion and Long-Term Impact
The success of the pilot has paved the way for expansion to other European locations, demonstrating its scalability and adaptability. In 2023, the initiative expanded to Germany, and in 2024, projects have already been executed or planned at multiple sites in Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK.
Driving Industry-Wide Change
Colt’s partnership with Urban Miners continues to drive their efforts towards a circular economy, reinforcing their sustainability leadership. Since the project’s inception, Urban Miners has become one of Colt’s key investment recovery partners.
Caroline Griffin Pain, Colt’s Legal Director, commented on the achievement: “Our research has shown us that understanding and reducing the environmental impact of digital infrastructure are critical priorities for global IT leaders. At Colt, we have the opportunity and responsibility to influence these goals: take action and drive lasting change. Partnering with Urban Miners will help Colt and our customers make real progress on our paths to Net Zero.”
This project serves as a model for other tech companies to adopt similar recycling and reuse strategies. By reducing their carbon footprint and conserving resources, Colt is not only contributing to a sustainable future but also setting a new standard for environmental responsibility in the digital infrastructure industry.