Recycled Cloud

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e-Durable
IndustryInformation Technology
Founded2015
FounderJean-Damien Beaud
HeadquartersGland,
Switzerland
Number of locations
3
BrandsRecycled Cloud
Websitehttps://e-durable.ch/en_GB

Recycled Cloud[1] is a brand of e-Durable,[2] a Swiss-based company specializing in sustainable information technology solutions, also known as Green IT or ICT Sustainability. The environmental footprint of the Information and Communication Technology industry is estimated at 5-9% of the world's total electricity use.[3] Their focus is on reducing electronic waste (e-waste) and advocating environmentally responsible practices within the IT industry. The company achieves this mission through the refurbishment and repurposing of IT hardware. This includes servers and networking equipment that also emphasize sustainable IT practices, including the use of renewable energy sources.

History[edit]

e-Durable SA was founded in 2015 by Jean-Damien Beaud[4] with the Headquarters in Gland, Switzerland. Its vision is to create a more responsible and sustainable Information Technology world and revolutionize the IT industry's approach to sustainability. Their core principle centers on the 100% use of recycled and reused servers. They have three data centers in Switzerland. Their main market presence is in Switzerland with some worldwide online presence. They offer 10 Service Categories, including virtual infrastructure with computer, storage and network services.

In alignment with its sustainability focus, e-Durable utilizes local, renewable energy. The company provides best practice cloud solutions from their data centers; establishing local and reasonably-sized entities, sourcing electricity solely from renewable sources.

Recycled Cloud is a registered trademarked brand of Swiss-based company e-Durable. It was established in 2017 in response to a need for change from the significant environmental impact of data centers supporting virtualized cloud services. It affirms the practicality of delivering services through sustainable means and seeks to be a positive contributor to the dynamic economic landscape, providing employment opportunities and reintegrating digital solutions with an emphasis on environmental responsibility.

Recycled Cloud was created to minimize this impact of computing by reusing idle servers, offering a tailor-made cloud which is 100% local (Swiss), 100% recycled, and 100% committed virtual servers to local businesses and organizations.

Principles[edit]

The main principle of Recycled Cloud is to provide cloud solutions where all the markers of sustainable development in IT are optimized. This includes, open-source practices, utilization of renewable energy, regional integration and local grounding, resilience, innovation and natural cooling systems. As cloud solutions is one of the top technologies that have a positive impact on sustainability,[5] the aim of this approach is to position the brand as an environmentally superior alternative to using conventional data centers.

The brand emerged from systematic analyses following the company's commitment to sustainability and how to mitigate the environmental impact of server infrastructure and data centers. They have three "small" data centers in Switzerland: one in Gland and two in Glarus. The brand is guided by a set of core principles:

Reduce and reuse[edit]

Recycled Cloud focus on reducing and slowing down the flow of material and e-waste which is generated by servers, and date center equipment. This is anchored on the basis of 100% use of recycled and reused servers. A 2010 Greenpeace Report claimed that PC ownership will quadruple between 2007 and 2020 to 4 billion devices, and emissions will double over the same period, with laptops overtaking desktops as the main source of global ICT emissions (22%).[6]

Ecological collection[edit]

To contribute to a sustainable ecosystem within Switzerland with plans to expand globally. Organisations in the region are offered a secure and eco-friendly collection service for their outdated hardware equipment.

Lifespan extension[edit]

To combat planned disuse and obsoleteness, the Recycled Cloud extend hardware's lifespans with a process of re-use, repair and re-use again, until the hardware can no longer function.

Local grounding[edit]

The principle of local grounding is to seamlessly integrate the virtual domain into specific regions. This aligns the cloud infrastructure with the environmental factors of the Swiss regions and creates community engagement. By situating cloud resources locally, date transmission distances are naturally reduced minimizing their carbon footprint promoting energy efficiency. This approach reflects an understanding of the importance of localization[7] in the development and deployment of cloud infrastructure.

Privacy and data protection[edit]

Recycled Cloud offers a cloud solution that protects and prioritizes user privacy and does not commercially exploit user data or track user behaviors.

Awards and recognition[edit]

e-Durable which offers support, digitalization and ecological hosting services and its brand Recycled Cloud have both received media recognition from various media outlets[8][9] as well as coverage for their recognition for efforts in reducing e-waste, including winning the New Economy Innovation Award from the city of Gland in 2022.[10][11]

They also won the 2023 Innovation Award from the Region of Nyon,[12] Switzerland and received a prize of 25,000CHF.[13][14] The Recycled Cloud initiative has been praised by industry experts and has been featured in several media outlets[15][16] underpinning the impact they have on not only the local IT industry but the community as a whole.

A notable milestone for Recycled Cloud is the registration of the brand logo as a trademark contributing to its presence in the sustainable IT sector in Switzerland.

Sustainable IT practices[edit]

e-Durable is a member of After-VD: Vaud Chamber of Social and Solidarity Economy.[17] They have proven that their cloud solutions are based on 100% recycled and reused servers. Their website is cleaner than 93% of websites tested.[citation needed] They also claim to use 0.07g of CO2 /view and recycle more than ½ ton of electronic waste annually.[citation needed] The number of refurbished servers they have is over 50.[citation needed] The idea of reusing the hardware until it can no longer function extends the life-cycle of electronic devices and significantly reduces the need for resource-intensive manufacturing processes.

Renewable energy sources[edit]

The percentage of renewable energy sources is 100%. By using servers that are 100% recycled, they can measure and express the decrease in carbon emissions, specifically around 1 ton of carbon dioxide equivalent for each server. This excludes transportation and the impact of rare earth usage. A new server emits 0.6 to 1.2 tonnes of CO2eq during its production process. The global digital sector is said to contribute at least 4% of the planet's total CO2 emissions.[18] These efforts contribute to reducing e-waste, diverting electronics from landfills, and contributing to a greener, more environmentally responsible future.

Recycled Cloud also places a strong emphasis on the use of renewable energy sources to power its data centers and IT infrastructure. By harnessing clean energy from sources like solar power, they have significantly decreased their carbon footprint, which aligns with Switzerland's renewable energy goals for 2050.[19] An example of this is the Glarus data centers have solar panels on the roof.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Recycled Cloud". 2017.
  2. ^ "e-Durable". 2015.
  3. ^ "Enerdata". August 2018.
  4. ^ "Zefix". 2016.
  5. ^ "Software White Paper". 2020.
  6. ^ "Greenpeace". 2010.
  7. ^ "Cloud Data Insights". 2024.
  8. ^ De nouveaux serveurs avec des vieux (in French). Retrieved 2024-05-15 – via latele.ch.
  9. ^ "Souveraineté des données – Avec e-Durable, l'informatique prend des couleurs vertes". 24 heures (in French). 2023-05-01. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
  10. ^ "Les lauréats 2022 :: Prix Nouvelle Économie :: Economie :: Vivre à Gland - Commune de Gland - Site officiel". www.gland.ch. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
  11. ^ "Prix Nouvelle Économie :: Economie :: Vivre à Gland - Commune de Gland - Site officiel". www.gland.ch. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
  12. ^ "Prix à l'innovation". Région de Nyon (in French). Retrieved 2024-05-15.
  13. ^ "Deux entreprises de La Côte primée pour leurs projets durables". Deux entreprises de La Côte primée pour leurs projets durables (in French). Retrieved 2024-05-15.
  14. ^ "La Région de Nyon récompense deux sociétés qui innovent dans l'alimentation et l'informatique". Région de Nyon (in French). Retrieved 2024-05-15.
  15. ^ "Can cloud-based IT solutions make sense from a sustainability perspective?" (PDF). Tech-i (54): 15. December 2022.
  16. ^ "e-Durable investit pour de nouveaux services informatiques encore plus écologiques" (PDF). Gland Cité (138): 18. June 2021.
  17. ^ "Members". APRES-VD : Chambre de l'économie Sociale et Solidaire VAUD (in French). Retrieved 2024-05-15.
  18. ^ "LEAN ICT - TOWARDS DIGITAL SOBRIETY" (PDF). The Shift Project: 17. March 2019.
  19. ^ "Renewable Energy". www.eda.admin.ch. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
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