Juniper continues to prioritize growing our circular economy programs, extending product life, and working to keep more raw materials in the value chain. We believe the growth of our program mirrors the interests of customers and partners and helps meet the environmental impact and material scarcity challenges the IT electronics industry is facing.
Our customers and partners are signaling to Juniper they want circularity. Results of a survey conducted in 2024 indicate:
- 86% of customers want products designed to maximize durability, repairability, and upgradability
- 74% want products designed for multiple life cycles
- 70% seek to optimize their e-waste outside the public recycling network
- 66% of customers show interest in Juniper’s certified pre-owned products
Whenever possible, Juniper prioritizes the repair and reuse of products and parts to extend their life, helping avoid the generation of e-waste.
Some recent Juniper highlights:
- We doubled the amount of e-waste in the last year processed by an R-2 certified recycler, resulting in a landfill diversion rate of over 95%
- Annually, we direct more than 400,000 lbs. of broken or out-of-use products and parts to repair and refurbishment channels to be resold as certified pre-owned or used as spare parts
- 2025 is the first year we will include measuring the total weight of electronic materials reused or refurbished as an Objectives and Key Results (OKR) measure. It’s an important step to measure continued progress
Rare earth, easy decisions
Circular practices are front page news as the role of critical minerals and rare earth minerals is better understood for their impact on global economies and the development of new technologies. The reality: They will only be in sufficient abundance if we build circular models that keep them in value chains.
Prioritizing extending product life and choosing e-waste vendors with certified processes does more than save scarce materials and avoid landfill contamination. It also reduces emissions by reducing raw material extraction and energy intensive part production. Some industry figures estimate more than 80% of emissions are saved when buying a refurbished electronic product rather than a new one. Most of our customers and partners have carbon reduction goals, and our efforts support them meeting those goals.
People matter more
Data suggests up to a quarter of all e-waste produced in industrialized countries still makes its way to developing countries, often illegally. Globally, unmanaged e-waste results in 45,000 tons of harmful plastic and 58 tons of mercury entering the environment yearly. Improved management of e-waste by manufacturers and end users, whether business products or consumer goods, can help reduce e-waste flows to developing countries, where it often contaminates the environment or does harm to public health. It’s the right reason for Juniper to adopt a circular economy practice.
Change won’t happen overnight, but progress toward circularity is being made, and Earth Day activities are a great opportunity to measure and celebrate our progress.
Are you a Juniper partner who already has an established circular economy practice? Show your own sustainability credibility by getting recognized through our Circular Economy Recognition Program.
Learn how Telxius and Juniper are advancing the circular economy
