We accelerate the journey towards more sustainable IT
Our mission is to build the future with IT. This means helping businesses manage their consumption of IT in a sustainable, efficient way as well as helping them leverage IT solutions to achieve sustainability goals.
Through our network Atea Sustainability Focus, we accelerate the transition towards more sustainable IT. We bring together the voice of Nordic IT buyers, create a platform for dialogue and drive important issues towards the industry. Since the global IT industry considers Nordic IT buyers to be among the most progressive and ambitious when it comes to sustainability, this is an opportunity for buyers to use their influence to accelerate the sustainability work of the industry.
Atea operates one of the largest electronic reuse and recycling operation in the Nordic and Baltic regions, and promotes IT reuse through our take-back services and our 100% Club network.
Electronic devices are a major driver of carbon emissions within organizations. Most of the carbon emissions from an electronic device occurs when the device is manufactured. Therefore, extending the life cycle of electronic equipment is a highly effective way of reducing carbon emissions and waste.
Through its take-back programs, Atea retrieves used equipment from its customers, fully cleanses the equipment of data, and prepares the equipment for reuse and recycling. This operation has a major impact on the carbon footprint and electronic waste of Atea’s customers.
Presently, Atea takes back 20 to 30 percent of all equipment we sell for reuse and recycling through our take-back service. And we keep raising the bar. Our ambition is to take it all back by 2030.
In 2023:
- Our customers saved 88,812 tCO2e by giving IT products a second life through our take-back services
- More than 760,000 units were recovered using take-back services
Climate
Our climate future is the product of the choices we make today. Information technology plays a crucial role in achieving a carbon-neutral and circular future.
We have ambitious goals:
- Reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 80% and Scope 3 GHG emissions by 50% by 2030 from a 2019 baseline.
- Help our customers reduce emissions from their operations. By this, we can prevent emissions 100X greater than our own. We have set the goal of 100:1.
Some ways in which Atea is making a difference
- Atea promotes circularity through our take-back services and our 100% Club network, as the production of new IT devices results in large amounts of GHG emissions.
- Atea is an active participant in the Responsible Business Alliance and its working groups, where we drive change together with global industry partners. This includes helping to strengthen climate targets in the industry’s common Code of Conduct.
- Atea promotes the use of IT solutions with our customers to reduce carbon emissions. For example, our customers have saved more than one million tCO2e by opting for digital meetings over physical ones.
Responsible Sourcing
The IT industry’s supply chains are long and complex, and they provide livelihoods for millions of people. Working to protect human rights, to ensure ethical and responsible working methods, and to reduce the climate footprint in the supply chains — all of this is as challenging as it is urgent. We must systematically use our influence to create positive, lasting change.
Promoting responsible sourcing
Atea has set clear sustainability demands for its vendors according to the industry’s highest standards. We expect our suppliers to act according to Atea’s and RBA’s Code of Conduct, which means they have set systematic and long-term work towards sustainable supply chains.
On top of this, we provide information to customers so they can contribute to setting sustainability standards for the products they purchase. In our eShop, we have made it easy for customers to search for sustainability certifications.
Atea and the Responsible Business Alliance
Our most important tool for promoting sustainability within the IT supply chain is our membership in the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA). The RBA is the IT industry’s sustainability organization and sets standards to guide the industry. To become a Regular Member of the RBA, vendors must demonstrate a systematic and long-term work plan for sustainable supply chains.
Atea has been a member of RBA since 2016 and actively participates in RBA’s various working groups. We have actively worked on projects surrounding conflict minerals, carbon emissions and the circular economy. An example of this work is the “Practical guide to transparency in procurement,” which was developed as a direct result of our work within Atea Sustainability Focus.
Atea is a founding member of the Responsible Minerals initiative (Raw Materials Initiative). It aims to expand the RBA’s work on responsible sourcing of minerals: looking at raw materials more broadly and in multiple locations around the world. As a member of the strategic working group, Atea has participated in discussions on how the enlargement should be designed and implemented.
Finally, Atea is working with the RBA’s Environmental Sustainability Workgroup to find solutions to environmental issues, such as carbon emissions, water and waste issues in the IT supply chain. The working group develops strategies and tools to improve the measurement of environmental impact, improve resource efficiency and to strengthen the capacity and performance of the industry.
Atea and the Norwegian Transparency Act / Åpenhetsloven
Sustainability is an important part of everything Atea does, from our business models to our culture. We want to be part of the solution to the challenges facing the IT industry. With the announcement of the Norwegian Transparency Act, we seized the opportunity to further improve and adapt our due diligence practices. We have reviewed our expectations of our partners, not least when it comes to transparency and are strengthening our reporting.
Accelerating the transition towards more sustainable IT
As an IT buyer, your choice matters and we are here to lead the way. Our objective is to help more businesses buy and manage IT in a more sustainable way. Here are key steps we can take together.
Lifecycle management of IT products
The 100% club
The 100% club brings together organizations with a shared vision of returning 100% of their IT equipment for reuse and recycling. Extending the life cycle of electronic equipment through reuse and recycling is a highly effective way of reducing carbon emissions, as up to 95 percent of the carbon emissions of an electronic device occurs when the device is manufactured. The 100% club has over 500 corporate and public sector organizations as members.
Atea Sustainability Focus (ASF)
The Atea Sustainability Focus initiative brings together the collective voice of the Nordic market so that our sustainability requirements are heard in the global IT industry. The ASF organization works with over 600 public and private sector customers, with an advisory board of leading corporations.
Within the framework of ASF, Atea collects recommendations from across the Nordic market and summarizes findings in a detailed sustainability report, and then brings the recommendations forward to the IT industry through our participation in the Responsible Business Alliance.
The Atea Sustainability Forum is an annual meeting of ASF participants, with inspiring lectures by leading experts, workshops on current sustainability topics and networking opportunities.
ASF Leadership for Change
The ASF Leadership for Change group is a network of major Nordic IT buyers who have committed to promoting sustainable IT through their procurement and consumption choices. The network aims to establish and share best practices in IT procurement and consumption.
Guide to sustainable procurement of IT
Atea has established the a guide to sustainable procurement of IT for buyers to set sustainability requirements when procuring IT. As an IT buyer, you have the opportunity to promote positive change within the industry.