Building the Foundations for Refurbished Devices in Denmark

Lenovo is committed to circularity and supporting our customers to achieve their net zero targets. That’s why we developed and launched our Certified Refurbished Solution in Denmark.

While France is leading the way when it comes to the sale of refurbished technology, mandating the need for 20% of IT devices bought by organisations to be refurbished, my own region covering the Nordic countries is also picking up steam.

We’re finding that customers want to engage with tech providers who can provide an end-to-end sustainability offering. Asset recovery services are becoming increasingly popular, as companies look to meet their own sustainability goals, with a single-source solution for the secure, documented disposal of IT hardware and data.

Lenovo’s Certified Refurbished is another step when it comes to end-to-end sustainability, making a big difference to product lifecycles by giving older devices a second or third lease of life.

The difference that refurbished equipment can make

Refurbished devices are an ideal fit for plenty of organisations or departments, specifically where huge amounts of processing power are not a requirement. This could be employees in back office jobs, managing administrative tasks, or operating from warehouses, for example.

With Lenovo’s Certified Refurbished we refurbish our best-in-class PCs and Servers, certify them, and extend their lifespan – all while retaining high levels of quality, security, and performance.

It’s a rigorous refurbishment process, with every device securely data sanitised and tested to ensure it meets Lenovo’s high standards of excellence and functionality. Once a device passes, it gets an official Lenovo Certification. This is only offered by Lenovo and accredited partners, guaranteeing that our refurbished devices can be depended on.

Devices sold through Lenovo Certified Refurbished are on average around three or four years old, but the use of original parts where necessary during the refurbishment results in an entirely new lease of life, with all our PCs being Windows-11 ready.

Lenovo Certified Refurbished devices also come with a standard one-year warranty with options to extend to up to three years, providing customers with peace of mind. This ensures reliability and access to Lenovo’s support infrastructure, along with benefit of reducing waste.

Giving a new life to older devices can make a huge difference to the environment. By refurbishing equipment, we can extend the lifecycle of technology, significantly lowering the carbon footprint of that product.

Making refurbishment more mainstream

Lenovo rolled out Certified Refurbished in Denmark earlier this year to support organisations in their drive for IT sustainability.

Denmark already has a strong commitment to sustainability, from the widespread use of sustainable energy to cycle-friendly cities. Denmark is also one of Europe’s leading recyclers, being the first country in the world to introduce a law on recycling, mandating that at least 50% of all paper and beverage packaging should be recycled way back in 1978.

This makes Denmark an ideal candidate for Certified Refurbished, but we also chose the country as a starting point as it’s currently looking to reform how organisations buy and manage older devices. Denmark’s public national procurement agency, SKI, announced a public tender in 2023 to help drive the implementation of refurbished devices, with the system set to roll out in the next couple of years.

We wanted to be at the forefront, and we are gathering feedback, learning, and adjusting our offerings all the time to meet the needs and sustainability goals of customers.

Why Certified Refurbished is important to Lenovo

Taking responsibility and helping to extend the lifecycles of our products isn’t just important from a business point of view – it’s key that whenever we sell a new device, we have the potential to give a second or third life to that device.

It’s important to our own sustainability ambitions and ESG strategy, along with making a positive difference for our customers and the environment.

At present, refurbished devices make up a small proportion of the technology market. According to Statista, the global refurbished PC market size amounted to less than five billion USD in 2022, compared to around 220 billion USD for the overall market. By 2031, the refurbished market is forecast to reach a value of 11.8 billion USD.

With Lenovo Certified Refurbished, we are adding another important building block to our overall commitment to support our customers journey towards meeting their net zero targets.