CIOs pride themselves on digital leadership, yet one of the most dangerous failures in enterprise IT happens in plain sight. Vendors talk about the circular economy, sustainability, and ESG, but when your equipment reaches the end of life, they vanish. The burden of disposal falls directly on your organisation. You carry the risk. They keep the revenue. This is the dirty secret the industry would rather you ignore.
Stop letting vendors walk away from their mess
We believe responsibility does not end when a device is delivered. We support reduce, reuse and recycle, but slogans mean nothing without ownership of the full lifecycle.
Kwirirai Rukowo 6 Feb 2026 Closing the loop
Under the National Environmental Management Waste Act and the Extended Producer Responsibility framework, anyone who supplies or refurbishes equipment must take responsibility for the entire lifespan of that equipment.
Vendors cannot hand off the burden to the client and pretend the work is done.
In practical terms, this means when a device becomes obsolete, we take it back. We prevent it from being dumped in a landfill or polluting water systems.
We refurbish it where possible and recycle it when required. We track the process and close the loop.
Any vendor who refuses to do the same is working within an outdated and irresponsible model.
The myth of responsible procurement is costing CIOs real money
Organisations sign impressive contracts, but too many vendors disappear when hardware reaches the end of life. The result is unmanaged liability, regulatory exposure and the risk of equipment falling into the wrong channels. This is not sustainability.
This is a transfer of cost and risk from the vendor to the client, which ultimately affects the total cost of ownership. If your vendor is only accountable for delivery, you are enabling a broken system.
This is why we tell our clients to demand evidence of real extended producer responsibility. Insist on lifecycle management that covers acquisition, operation, decommissioning, return, reuse and recycling.
If a vendor cannot show documented processes, metrics, a chain of custody and certifications, they are not contributing to your sustainability mandate. They are convenience suppliers, not strategic partners.
Jeffrey Abrahams 4 Mar 2026 Profitting from waste
The uncomfortable truth is that many vendors profit from waste
It is easy for them to sell new equipment. It is profitable. But when it comes to what happens when that equipment becomes redundant, responsibility evaporates.
Clients pay premium prices believing they have chosen a safe option, only to discover the vendor is nowhere to be found when disposal becomes an issue.
The result is mounting waste, expanding landfills and growing environmental risk. This is not innovation. It is negligence.
Our position is clear: we accept obsolete equipment through our complete information technology asset disposition program. We ensure nothing ends up in landfill or water systems.
We refurbish devices to extend life where possible and recycle responsibly when not.
We document the impact in kilogrammes of e-waste prevented, device lives extended and raw materials preserved. Our clients report measurable progress rather than marketing claims.
CIOs must start asking the questions vendors hope you avoid:
- When a vendor promises to handle disposal, ask how.
- Do they guarantee secure and responsible decommissioning?
- Do they provide certificates that prove compliance?
- Do they take equipment back at no extra cost?
- Can they prove that nothing ends up in landfills or water streams?
- If the answer is no, you are outsourcing your risk to the very party who created it.
This is where leadership matters
We are raising the bar not for brand positioning but because moral duty and business sense are aligned.
The world cannot absorb another cycle of buy, use, dump. Regulations are tightening, reputational exposure is rising, and stakeholders expect real accountability.
The question is no longer whether lifecycle responsibility matters. The question is who will step up and lead.
Buying refurbished equipment is not enough if the vendor ignores the back end. Without taking back responsibility, your sustainability efforts end in a landfill.
A vendor who sells you hardware but refuses to manage obsolescence is not neutral. They are part of the problem.
Our challenge to the industry:
- We will hold ourselves accountable.
- We will accept all equipment that clients hand back.
- We will not shift environmental or legal risk to anyone else.
- We will document and report real impact.
- We will encourage clients to demand the same of every vendor they work with.
To every CIO and procurement leader: end of life must be part of your vendor assessment. It is not optional.
If a vendor cannot demonstrate total lifecycle responsibility, you are buying into a legacy of waste, and you will inherit the consequences.
Sustainability is not a label. It is a chain of actions and a long-term commitment. If you procure technology and then turn a blind eye to the final stage, you share responsibility for what follows.
Ask the difficult questions. Reject comfortable excuses. Choose vendors who take ownership of the full lifecycle.
Your environment, your business and your reputation depend on it.
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