The Royal Mint has signed a deal to use remanufactured laptops from Circular Computing to support its sustainability strategy.

The Royal Mint is famous for making coins, but over recent years has evolved to offer precious metals investment, luxury collectables and jewellery. Carbon-neutral remanufactured laptops will help to decarbonise the Royal Mint’s IT estate, reducing Scope 3 emissions, and is seen as a key step towards embracing circular-economy, lower-carbon processes as championed by the organisation’s IT department. 

Discussing IT’s role in sustainability, Simon Edwards, head of IT operations at the Royal Mint, said: “Sustainability is core to the long-term future of the Royal Mint and our technology function is challenged with delivering sustainable computing for our employees. We teamed up with Circular Computing and ran a trial of its sustainable laptops to see if they would be a fit for our needs.

“Not only do the remanufactured laptops meet our demanding specifications, but they also have premium appeal – from the packaging they arrive in to the quality of the devices themselves. They also come with extended warranty options, which made it an easy decision to move to Circular Computing.” 

Circular Computing’s circular remanufacturing process produces what the company describes as “second-life laptops”, which meet a new BSI Kitemark scheme that certifies devices as being equal to, or better than, new devices. 

BSI’s remanufactured and reconditioned Kitemark scheme aims to verify the processes used for the remanufacture of products to show clients that best practice has been followed. The BSI Kitemark covers the process of returning a used product to at least to its original performance, with a warranty that is equivalent to, or better than, that of a newly manufactured product.

Following a successful trial, the agreed partnership will see the Royal Mint use Circular Computing carbon-neutral, remanufactured Lenovo ThinkPad T480 units, designed to meet the Royal Mint’s specific IT needs while allowing for a flexible procurement approach.

More than 70 remanufactured laptops have already been delivered to the organisation, with further deliveries scheduled for later this year. By using carbon-neutral remanufactured laptops, the Royal Mint said it can achieve lower carbon contributions from its laptop estate, while also promoting the principles of the circular economy. 

Inga Doak, head of sustainability and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) at the Royal Mint, added: “Investing in a sustainable future for all our stakeholders is integral to the Royal Mint’s overall business ambition. Partnering with Circular Computing – the first company in the world to achieve a BSI Kitemark for its remanufactured laptops – provided us with a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate this commitment.

“The solution offered by Circular Computing is a great example where remanufactured exceeds new – with its remanufactured laptops meeting our functional IT needs while delivering a circular, carbon-neutral product. As the Royal Mint transforms for the future, we want to partner with more organisations like Circular Computing, which support our ambition to be leaders in sustainable precious metals.”