Central to the concept of a circular economy is maintaining assets at their highest and best use for as long as possible. Cisco has programs to facilitate product returns for reuse and recycling, offer comprehensive service and repair, and remanufacture used equipment for sale through Cisco Refresh. These programs can create a second life for equipment, thereby saving resources required for new manufacturing and reducing waste.
Cisco’s Supply Chain Services & Logistics organization supports customer and partner hardware Return Material Authorizations (RMAs). We optimize our network and inventory levels as parts are used, customers deploy new products, and hardware becomes obsolete. In an effort to maximize products’ useful life, we replace, recover, and refurbish equipment and components through an extensive logistics, warehouse, planning, and repair operations network. Devices are repaired and thoroughly tested to support adherence to the latest manufacturing specifications.
The Customer Experience (CX) Intelligent RMA Experience (IRE) program aims to accelerate the resolution of cases involving an RMA and to enable a seamless RMA experience requiring minimal touch for the customer, reducing risk of damage to the product. IRE provides RMA support using an AI (artificial intelligence)/ML (machine learning) prediction engine and robotic process automation. In fiscal 2023, IRE helped avoid over 3400 RMAs through automation of workflows to troubleshoot some of the most common issues with products in the field. This process helps reduce carbon emissions and supports Cisco’s circular economy efforts. Cisco will continue to look for additional ways to support our customers’ needs and reduce logistics transactions.
Returns Portal—The Returns Portal is an online destination for customers and partners to find consolidated information for all types of Cisco returns. Some return programs are highlighted below. Many of these programs support our PACE Capital Equipment pledge.
| KPI | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KPI: Returned material reused, percent | FY20:14.2% | FY21: 14.1% | FY22: 7.9% | FY23: 12.1% | Comments: Material returned from customers or internal sources that are redeployed to Manufacturing Stock, Cisco Refresh, Cisco Services, or other internal users to reduce new product purchases. |
| KPI: Returned material sent to recycle, percent | FY20:85.7% | FY21: 85.8% | FY22: 92.0% | FY23: 87.7% | Comments: All remaining electronic waste materials, including plastics, precious, and nonprecious metals, are shredded and recycled by our contracted e-scrap recyclers. |
| KPI: Returned material sent to landfill, percent | FY20:0.16% | FY21: 0.08% | FY22: 0.12% | FY23: 0.21% | Comments: Landfill material consists only of non-electronic waste materials such as broken pallets, wet cardboard, and shrink wrap as well as unrecovered materials from the recycling process. |
| KPI: Total materials, metric tonne | FY20:10,383 | FY21: 9478 | FY22: 8561 | FY23: 10,213 | Comments: Total weight of reused, recycled, and landfilled material. |
Reuse is among our top priorities. Returned devices that can be reused are remanufactured, refurbished, or repaired, and resold by Cisco Refresh, or used by Cisco service operations or our internal labs. Products that are not reusable are harvested for components and recycled by one of our authorized recyclers. With the Send IT Back app, customers simply take photos of the products they want to return, and shipping agents contact them to arrange a free pickup. As of fiscal 2023, the Send IT Back app is available in in 27 European Union countries, the United Kingdom and the United States. The ease with which a customer or partner can now process returns directly contributed to a doubling of customers and partners using the tool between fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2022. CRS, our customer and partner recycling solution, remains available for those with nonworking product for equipment to be recycled in a secure and responsible manner. Cisco is developing a long-term roadmap to expand the ease and simplicity of product returns.
Alongside our efforts to increase the reuse of equipment, we work to address external barriers to scale these opportunities. We collaborate with peer companies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and policymakers to address challenges and unintended consequences that can impact our ability to repair equipment.
When products are returned to Cisco, we evaluate their condition and eligibility for reuse. If the product is in usable condition or repairable and there is demand for the product, it undergoes a testing and/or repair process to meet Cisco’s quality standards. Cisco prioritizes data security by performing data sanitization to NIST 800-88 R1 specifications prior to reuse.
The IT team at Busey Bank wasn’t originally prioritizing sustainability when they discovered Cisco Refresh—they just needed equipment, fast.
Upon learning that that they could get certified remanufactured products right from Cisco sooner than they could get the new products they were waiting on, Busey ordered Catalyst 1000 ISR and SFP products from Cisco Refresh. Not only did they find what they needed, they discovered a new channel for supporting their sustainability and ESG goals. Cisco Refresh options require just a small fraction of the energy, raw materials, and water it would take to build a new product from scratch. Today, Busey looks for Refresh products first—rather than as a backup. “It’s our preferred option now,” said Vice President and Operations Manager Luke Wurl. “I’m on board from a sustainability perspective. We’re committing to as little net new equipment as possible.”
The Busey team is looking forward to taking advantage of Cisco’s Takeback and Reuse program as well. Available through a web platform and an app, it allows equipment owners to return used hardware at no cost. They simply take a picture of the products they wish to return, and Cisco retrieves them, then either remanufactures or recycles them.
“I wish we had more partners like Cisco,” said Wurl.
Cisco's ambition is to redeploy as much material as possible, which includes recycling and harvesting of commodity components. We currently have two contracted e-scrap recyclers. Each recycler uses both company-owned facilities and subcontracted recyclers to provide global recycling coverage. Cisco’s contracted recyclers are certified to one or more e-scrap-specific recycling standards, such as R2, R2 RIOS, eStewards, and WEEELABEX.
In addition, our contracts require recyclers to enforce our recycling processes with their subcontractors doing Cisco work. We approve prospective recycling companies and recycling locations before sending Cisco equipment for processing.
Contracted recyclers provide Cisco with monthly reports showing cases opened and processed on a lot-by-lot basis. Reports include a mass balance showing the weight as received and the weights of each fractional commodity adding up to the gross weight received. On a quarterly basis, we hold business reviews with the recyclers to review recent results, action items, and upcoming focus areas. We also conduct random site audits of recycling facilities.
After material is received and weighed on a calibrated scale, recyclers review items for possible component harvesting. They may harvest processors, memory, and other hardware with sufficient market value to offset the cost of their harvesting, cleaning, packaging, and resale. Harvested components must be cleared of data in compliance with the NIST 800-88 R1 standard before being available for resale.
After harvesting, the unit proceeds to the recycling process. The recycling process starts with each load of e-scrap being dismantled and sorted into “commodity fractions.” This separates steel, aluminum, cardboard, plastic, wire/cable, and printed circuit boards (PCBs). PCBs are shredded and sorted further before going to a specialized smelter where copper, palladium, silver, and gold are recovered. These metals are then sold on the global metals markets.
Other materials, including batteries or packaging materials, are sent to downstream recyclers to become raw material inputs for new products.
Read about Cisco’s Environmental Management System (EMS) and compliance with relevant environmental regulations, such as Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), Battery & Packaging Compliance, under Environmental Compliance.
