Arvato Group | Gütersloh, 01/17/2025

15,000 IT Devices Refurbished

Arvato Systems and the nonprofit organization AfB have been collaborating for ten years. Arvato Systems forwards decommissioned company IT devices to AfB for refurbishing and remarketing – a partnership, which stands for both sustainable environmental protection and active inclusion.

Arvato Systems celebrates 10 years of sustainable IT partnership: In 2013, the IT company announced a cooperation with Europe’s largest nonprofit IT company AfB, which led to the first concrete measures in 2014 – a statement for sustainable environmental protection and active inclusion. At the occasion of the tenth anniversary, AfB has presented a certificate for the responsible handling of used IT hardware to Arvato Systems.

This partnership is about the professional refurbishing and reselling of decommissioned company laptops, PCs, and smartphones. According to Arvato Systems, the company has forwarded a total of 14,778 devices to AfB for refurbishing and remarketing over the past ten years. Compared with a new purchase of the refurbished devices, this commitment has saved a total of 10,914,977 liters of water and 1,537,773 kilograms of CO2 equivalents. “The partnership with AfB is an impressive demonstration of how the circular economy can be implemented in the IT sector,” says Oliver Hartkämper, Chief Information Officer at Arvato Systems. “Our collaboration proves that sustainability and economic success can go hand in hand.”

Cooperation with a social dimension

In addition to the environmental benefits, the cooperation also has a social dimension. AfB – short for “Arbeit für Menschen mit Behinderung” (work for people with disabilities) – is a recognized inclusion company. Around half of the approximately 700 AfB employees, who delete data from the supplied devices’ data storage and refurbish the used company laptops, PCs, and smartphones, are people with disabilities. AfB Managing Director Daniel Büchle describes the collaboration with Arvato Systems: “Partnership-based, reliable, and sustainable – since 2014, we have been carrying out collections of devices at Arvato Systems, erasing the data storage devices with certified software, checking the devices and refueling them with the latest operating system in each case.” Büchle emphasizes that the as-new hardware is then sold to private individuals, associations, and small and medium-sized companies.

The collaboration between Arvato Systems and AfB gives IT devices a “second life”. According to Arvato Systems, smartphones are only used for an average of two years, and refurbishing allows such devices to be used for four years or longer. This reduces the quantity of electronic waste and the demand for new devices, which also reduces the consumption of valuable raw materials. Through its cooperation with AfB, Arvato Systems is contributing to the United Nations’ seven “Social Development Goals”. These sustainable development goals include “sustainable consumption and production”, “climate action” and “reduced inequalities”.

AfB’s “Green IT” concept has already received several business and sustainability awards. Banks, insurance companies, and public institutions across Europe are among AfB’s cooperation partners. Bertelsmann’s Corporate Center already celebrated the tenth anniversary  of this partnership last year. Other Bertelsmann companies are now working with AfB as well.