JULY 2026
Building Circularity Into the UK’s Data Centre Future 4 6
Special Feature: London’s Electricals and Electronics Footprint
Less Hate, Better Fate: Why Old Tech Shouldn’t Be Written Off
Smartphones Aren’t Enough: Why Every Child Needs the Right Device 7 8 9
Circular by Defalt: How Defra Is Rethinking Government Technology
This month’s stories highlight the energy, creativity and practical thinking driving the circular technology sector forward. It is an exciting industry to be part of, and one that continues to evolve through collaboration, fresh ideas and people committed to doing things differently.
I hope you enjoy reading this edition and feel inspired by the people and projects helping to shape what comes next.
Laura Lawrance Head of Marketing | Circular Tech Expo
P.S. Make sure you come and meet us all in person at Circular Tech Expo, taking place on 13–14 October 2026.
HEAD OF MARKETING | CIRCULAR TECH EXPO
New research from ReLondon and the University of Oxford maps the flow, carbon impact and circular opportunity of electrical and electronic equipment across London.
London’s electricals and electronics footprint maps, for the first time, the flow of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) across London – from purchase, through use, to disposal – and quantifies the associated life cycle emissions.
The research also models the likely carbon reduction impacts of potential levers that could reduce waste and carbon emissions.
It serves as additional evidence to complement ReLondon’s other sectoral footprint reports, available for food, fashion and packaging, and compounds the call to action for London to transition to a low carbon circular economy.
The research has helped identify two key opportunities for action in London’s EEE system which, if tackled, can generate economic, social and carbonreduction benefits for the city:
1. Increase reuse and repair of items that are currently thrown away.
2. Increase the amount of items disposed of correctly in order to capture their value.
The report’s findings have prompted an urgent call-to-arms to capture the value of electricals across the capital to help drive socio-economic benefits, and in turn, address the damaging environmental impact caused by production, consumption and disposal.
ReLondon is calling for partners and collaborators to work with them to accelerate London’s development of a low carbon, resilient circular electronics system.
London’s total consumption of electrical and electronic equipment in 2024 was 255,600 tonnes. 79% of this was consumed by households versus 21% consumed by businesses and institutions.
London’s total electricals carbon footprint in 2024 was 9.1 million tonnes CO₂e for households and nonhouseholds, excluding use phase. This is larger than both the capital’s packaging footprint, at 4.12 million tonnes CO₂e, and clothing footprint, at 2.01 million tonnes CO₂e from households only, but smaller than London’s food system, at 15.48 million tonnes CO₂e
Five product categories represent 41.9% of London’s household electricals and electronics carbon footprint: small IT equipment, game consoles, flat panel TVs, PV panels and washing machines
The amount of WEEE generated and disposed of in London in 2024 was 134,500 tonnes 80% of this was generated from London’s households versus 20% from non-households.
Of the 134,500 tonnes of items discarded by London in 2024, 47.5% were disposed of via formal collection routes, including commercial collections, retail takeback schemes, local authority collections, household waste recycling centres, doorstep collections and other bring banks such as in libraries.
A further 52.3%, or 70,700 tonnes, were disposed of via non-official routes, with 62.3% of this being put into the residual waste.
Households drove the majority, 63%, of the total volume of items improperly disposed in 2024. However, businesses and institutions improperly disposed of more per unit than households, with each London business on average sending the equivalent of 24 laptops to non-official routes, compared with 6 laptops by an average London household.
Electrical and electronic equipment underpins modern life, from fridges, laptops and smartphones to heating, air conditioning and connected devices. Yet the production, consumption and disposal of these products carries significant material and carbon costs.
The report highlights that the majority of the carbon impact associated with London’s electricals and electronics is generated before products even reach the city, through materials extraction, manufacturing and transport. Making better use of existing products through repair, reuse, remanufacturing and effective product management is, therefore, a significant opportunity for reducing London’s footprint.
In addition to lowering the carbon fo otprint of the sector, the report highlights how increasing the amount of electrical and electronic equipment that is reused and repaired across London can also drive socio-economic benefits, including supporting households experiencing appliance and digital poverty, and supporting green jobs and skills through the repair and refurbishment sector.
Increasing formal collection rates is also identified as crucial, not only to increase recycling, repair and reuse rates, but also to recover valuable critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel, and to support supply chain resilience. Preventing improper disposal can also help avoid battery-related fires in waste management and mitigate other health and safety risks.
London’s electrical and electronics footprint is the fourth in a series of material flow analyses produced by ReLondon and partners, following reports on London’s food footprint, fashion footprint and packaging footprint. Together, these reports provide a growing evidence base for action in cities. As major cities are often net consumers of products and materials, the carbon and waste savings potential from tackling consumption is significant.
For the circular technology sector, the message is clear: reducing the impact of electronics is not only about recycling more at the end of life. It is about extending product lifespans through reuse and repair, increasing the amount of items disposed through formal collection routes, capturing value from recovered items’ materials, and keeping products and materials in circulation for longer.
The full report, London’s electricals and electronics footprint: An analysis of material flows, greenhouse gas emissions and levers for action in London, is available to download from ReLondon.
London’s electricals and electronics footprint shows the urgent opportunity to capture material value, increase reuse and build a more resilient circular electronics system
As demand for digital infrastructure accelerates, the DICE Network+ is helping bring circular economy thinking into one of the UK’s most important technology sectors: data centres.
The EPSRC-funded Digital Innovation and Circular Economy Network+, known as DICE Network+, is helping shape the future of digitally enabled circular data centres. Led by Professor Fiona Charnley, the network has contributed key insights to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Data Centres Insights Paper, following a programme of work focused on circularity in this sector.
In 2025 and 2026, DICE Network+ convened experts from the data centre sector, policy, academia and investment firms to explore how the sector can transition towards a circular economy. The network brought together over 30 specialists, culminating in a panel discussion at Data Centre World in March 2026. Insights were synthesised into a policy brief submitted to the APPG for Data Centres, helping place circular data centre infrastructure into national conversation.
Data centres sit at the centre of the digital economy, supporting cloud services, AI, communications, business operations and public services.
As the sector grows, so does the importance of managing its material, infrastructure and lifecycle impacts more effectively. Circularity in data centres is not only about what happens when equipment reaches end of life; it is also about how assets are specified, procured, maintained, reused, recommissioned and recovered.
The DICE Network+ deep dive highlights the need for joined-up thinking across technology providers, operators, investors, policymakers and researchers. By bringing these groups together, the network is helping identify where practical circular economy action can support a more resilient and sustainable data centre sector.
Circularity is moving upstream into the infrastructure powering the digital economy
PROJECT LEAD | DIGITAL INNOVATION AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY (DICE) NETWORK+
Data centres need circular thinking
As digital demand grows, the infrastructure supporting it must become more resourceefficient, resilient and circular.
Collaboration is shaping policy
DICE Network+ brought together experts from the data centre sector, policy, academia and investment to explore practical pathways for change.
The conversation is expanding beyond end-of-life recycling to include design, procurement, operation, reuse, recovery and digitally enabled circular systems. Circularity is moving upstream
The Bigger Picture
Circular technology is no longer limited to devices, ITAD, repair or refurbishment. It is increasingly being applied to the systems and infrastructure that power the digital world. DICE Network+ demonstrates how research and cross-sector collaboration can help embed circular principles into the future of digital infrastructure.
From forgotten phones and tablets to laptops left in office cupboards, drawers and storage rooms, Hate My Phone is challenging the idea that the only fate for old technology is to be ignored, scrapped or written off. Instead, the company is helping businesses recognise that unwanted devices can still hold value, protect data, support reuse and create a more circular future for technology.
Hate My Phone was founded more than 10 years ago to challenge the way the technology industry thinks about unwanted devices. The company’s philosophy is simple: technology should not have a sell-by date. Every phone, tablet, laptop or electronic device should be individually assessed to determine whether it can be reused, repaired, harvested for genuine OEM parts or responsibly recycled. Over the last decade, Hate My Phone has processed millions of devices, with more than 90% reused rather than recycled, recovering value from devices others may have considered worthless.
Too often, decisions about unwanted technology are driven by resale value, processing speed or convenience rather than the most responsible outcome.
A device with low market value can still contain usable components, sensitive data and materials that should be carefully recovered. If it is shredded too early, the opportunity for reuse, repair or genuine parts recovery is lost. This matters for businesses as well as the environment. Many organisations have unused phones, laptops and IT equipment sitting in drawers, cupboards and storage rooms. These assets may still hold value, but they may also hold sensitive information. Responsible assessment allows organisations to recover commercial value while protecting data and reducing waste.
Old devices should be treated as assets first, not waste
KASIM MUNAR
Reuse should come first
Hate My Phone assesses every device before any recycling decision is made, helping ensure reuse, repair and parts recovery are considered before disposal.
Phones, tablets and laptops that appear damaged or obsolete may still contain valuable components, materials and recoverable commercial value. Old does not mean worthless
The company uses forensic-grade data wiping procedures to permanently remove information before devices are reused, resold or recycled.
The circular economy is not just about recycling more. It is about keeping products, components and materials in use for as long as possible. For technology, that means moving away from the assumption that unwanted devices are automatically waste. Refurbishment and reuse can extend product lifecycles, conserve valuable resources and support wider access to affordable technology. Old devices should be treated as assets first, not waste.
Defra is reimagining how government technology is procured, managed and replaced. Through its new End User Services contract with Atos and its partners, the department is putting refurbished and remanufactured devices at the centre of its estate, showing how digital transformation can reduce environmental impact, lower costs and improve value for taxpayers.
Defra is the first government department to adopt refurbished and remanufactured laptops at scale as part of a broader approach to sustainable technology.
Its five-year End User Services contract covers around 72,000 devices used by more than 30,000 colleagues. Over the contract, 90% of Defra’s laptops, phones and tablets will be refurbished or remanufactured, making circularity a default requirement rather than an optional enhancement. Circularity starts by procuring remanufactured devices wherever possible instead of buying new. The contract also maximises device lifecycles through performance monitoring, ensuring repairs or replacements happen only when needed and colleagues receive equipment suited to their work.
Public-sector technology estates operate at enormous scale, and decisions about device replacement have significant environmental and financial consequences. Defra’s model challenges the assumption that digital transformation requires continual replacement of hardware with new devices. By combining remanufacture, refurbishment and performance-led refresh cycles, it extends device lifetimes without compromising quality, security or user experience. The contract also demonstrates how circularity can deliver social value through zeroto-landfill policies, responsible recycling, equipment donations and partnerships that support environmental benefits, skills development and employment opportunities.
Government technology can be treated as a longterm resource, not a short-term consumable
Compared with buying new devices, Defra estimates the approach will reduce carbon emissions by 44%, avoid around 51,000 tonnes of raw-material extraction and save approximately 12,000 megalitres of water.
Better value
Refurbished devices can deliver significant cost savings compared to purchasing brand-new devices, creating opportunities to reinvest public money in frontline services and innovation.
Circularity built in
Sustainability and social value carried a 20% weighting in the procurement (double the weighting typically used), supported by contract KPIs, supplier engagement and performance-based device management.
The Bigger Picture THE AWARD-WINNING DEFRA TEAM
The significance of the contract reaches beyond Defra. The department receives regular enquiries from other publicsector bodies seeking to follow the model. It demonstrates how refurbished and remanufactured technology can become a normal part of procurement, treating government technology as a long-term resource rather than a shortterm consumable.
Digital access is now essential to education, but the Digital Poverty Alliance’s 2026 UK School Census Report shows that too many young people still lack access to the devices, connectivity and skills they need to fully participate.
The Digital Poverty Alliance has published its 2026 UK School Census Report, exploring how device access, connectivity and digital skills affect young people’s educational progress.
The report highlights a clear “keyboard gap” in education, showing that access to smartphones or shared devices is not the same as meaningful access to a suitable keyboarded device, such as a laptop or desktop computer. Based on research with UK parents and teachers, the findings show digital access remains uneven, with concerns around online schoolwork, device availability and smartphone-only use. The report calls for every child to have access to a laptop or desktop computer.
The report shows that the digital divide is not only about whether a young person has internet access or a device somewhere in the household. It is about whether they have reliable access to the right type of device at the right time.
According to the report, 45% of parents say their child is required to use an online portal to submit coursework or homework, and a further 25% say this is optional. Teachers also reported that smartphone-only access is not enough for many education tasks, with fewer than one in 10 teachers believing a child could complete all coursework using only a smartphone.
For children in digitally excluded households, this can affect homework, confidence, progression and the ability to apply for future education, training or work.
A smartphone is not meaningful access when education depends on a keyboarded device
The report highlights the difference between passive access to technology and meaningful access to a suitable keyboarded device.
Online learning needs proper tools
Homework, coursework and applications are increasingly expected to be completed online, making access to laptops or desktops essential.
Digital exclusion affects opportunity
Young people without suitable devices are more likely to face barriers in education, progression and confidence.
This is where circular technology and digital inclusion meet. Across the circular tech sector, reuse, refurbishment and responsible IT asset management can keep devices in productive use for longer. The social value of this work is as important as the environmental value. Securely refurbished and redistributed laptops and desktops can reduce waste, extend product life and help close the access gap. Circularity ensures technology reaches the people and communities who need it most.