French broker ATF Gaia is taking stock of its partnership with CGI, a world leader in consulting and digital services, which relies on its expertise for the processing of its end-of-life IT equipment.
CGI, one of the largest digital services companies in France and in the world, has been pursuing an ambitious corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy for over a decade. It aims both to reduce the environmental impact of its activities and to promote inclusion and diversity. Since 2015, CGI has entrusted ATF Gaia with the processing of its end-of-life IT equipment for reuse. In total, nearly 18,000 pieces of equipment have been taken over by the adapted company, enabling the sustainable employment of around ten people with disabilities.
Since 2015, nearly 18,000 pieces of equipment have been taken over by the adapted company, processed following 99 collections made at the company's 24 sites in France; some 9,000 certified hard drives have been erased (desktops and servers), mostly in ATF Gaia's production workshop, located in Moissy-Cramayel in the Paris region.
Of the 100.8 tons of IT equipment (PCs, servers, printers, etc.) at the end of its life cycle that have been processed since the partnership began, the overall reuse rate (reconditioning and recovery) is 94.54%. In addition, the partnership has enabled at least 10 people with disabilities to be employed on a permanent basis.
CGI has also been conducting a policy of donating computers to organisations or associations since 2017. These operations are intended to expand in the coming years. In this case, ATF Gaia operates the same operations of collection, data erasure, reconditioning and installation of a Windows Refurbished operating system.
"This approach is ecological, social and supportive. It demonstrates that with expertise, experience, determination and the right partners, it is possible to develop virtuous practices", said Magali Fabre, CGI's Director of Diversity and Inclusion.
CGI's CSR actions focus on three major areas: reducing its environmental impact, implementing actions to improve inclusion and diversity in order to offer everyone the same opportunities, and developing solidarity projects led by its employees.
"As far as our IT tools are concerned, our environmental impact is mainly due to the management of the end of life of our equipment. We chose ATF Gaia, which has recognised expertise in the field of IT asset recycling. On the social front, entrusting these missions to an adapted company, where at least 55% of the workforce is disabled, is fully in line with our CSR objectives in terms of inclusion and diversity", explains Laurent Gerin, President of CGI for Western and Southern Europe.
In 2022, CGI plans to renew a significant portion of its IT assets. Satisfied with the quality of service provided, the responsiveness of ATF Gaia's teams and its multi-site logistics capabilities for collecting equipment, CGI will continue to rely on the adapted company for the processing of its end-of-life IT equipment.
"This renewed partnership with CGI allows us to continue employing people with disabilities and to reconcile the social and circular economy, which has been our core commitment since our creation 26 years ago", said Sylvain Couthier, founder and president of ATF Gaia.
Key figures of the partnership
Of the 100.8 tons of equipment processed, 53.39% was reconditioned, 41.14% was recycled (material or energy) and 5.46% was destroyed, bringing the overall reuse rate to 94.54%.
Thanks to the non-manufacturing of new equipment, reuse allowed :
- to avoid the emission of 3,321 tons of CO2, or 545 round-the-world flights;
- to save 14.6 million litres of water, or nearly 6 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Knowing that a new piece of equipment requires 1,500 litres of water and 339 kg of CO2 to be produced, that a round-the-world flight emits 6,091 kg of CO2 equivalent and that an Olympic swimming pool contains 2.5 million litres of water.
The partnership has also contributed to the sustainable employment of at least 10 people with disabilities.