United Internet also performs a wide range of activities to reduce waste generation. These are described in the following.
A large proportion of the employees at United Internet are bound by Group policies on the careful and responsible handling of the devices supplied to them internally. 1 The policies aim to facilitate the long-term use, refurbishment, and recycling of the Group’s internal hardware. Devices may not be willfully damaged (e.g., by painting them or attaching stickers to them) so as to preserve their original state. Minimum utilization periods are specified for the different groups of devices, and deviations are only made from these in exceptional cases. For example, the minimum useful life of a laptop is 48 months. At the end of their useful life, the devices are returned to Office IT. This department ensures they are disposed of, refurbished, or otherwise recovered safely and in an environmentally friendly manner.
Since 2010, United Internet 2 has ensured that some of its internally used servers and network devices that have reached the end of their service life are recycled in an environmentally sound way by passing them on to refurbishment specialist AfB gGmbH. This prepares them for reuse or sends them for professional recycling, prolonging the life of the hardware and conserving resources. The volume of equipment that United Internet donates annually to AfB is shown in the table further down.
United Internet 3 sells some of its retired laptops and PCs that are in good condition to another IT refurbishment specialist. Green IT Solution GmbH also prepares the internally used hardware it receives for reuse and resale. If this is not possible, the old devices are professionally recycled and recovered by experts. Reusing old devices and returning them to the raw materials life cycle not only conserves resources but also makes a positive contribution to promoting the circular economy. The volume of devices sold is given in the table further down.
1 Based on the Group Policy for Usage of End Devices and the Group Policy on IT Workplace Equipment. These policies apply to the Corporate and Consumer Applications segments and to all subsidiaries of 1&1 Telecommunication SE, as well as to IONOS SE, IONOS Service GmbH, IONOS (Philippines) Inc., IONOS Datacenter SAS, IONOS S.A.R.L, IONOS Cloud S.L.U, 1&1 Internet Development SRL, IONOS Inc, IONOS Cloud Ltd., Sedo GmbH, and Fasthosts Internet Ltd.
2 With the exception of the Business Access Segment.
3 With the exception of the Business Access Segment.
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