Cisco is focused on evolving from a linear economy that extracts resources and eventually wastes them, to a circular one that finds new uses for products and their inputs. We aim to transform our business to extend the useful life of our products and provide ongoing services.
In fiscal 2023, we launched our next-generation environmental sustainability strategy, The Plan for Possible, which outlines product circularity plans as part of our circular transformation priority. Read more about our strategy.
As Cisco takes a holistic approach to reducing the environmental impact of our products across the product life cycle, we have three areas of focus:
Circular design means designing products and systems that enable reuse, minimize environmental impacts, drive innovation, and realize value for our stakeholders. We are designing our products and packaging with circularity in mind, aligning them to 25 Circular Design Principles organized across five focus areas. These principles were developed in fiscal 2019 based on opportunities identified during product teardowns and industry best practices, and built from eco-design guidelines that had been in place for many years.
Read Cisco's white paper on our circular economy journey and embedding circularity into product design.
Incorporate recycled content into our products, reduce the use of nonrenewable materials, and consider resource scarcity risks as part of material selection.
Standardize and modularize components and enclosures to simplify our supply chain and enable reuse, repair, remanufacturing, and recycling.
Use recycled and renewable packaging materials, reduce foam and plastic use, move toward fiber-based designs, remove unused accessories, and increase packaging efficiency.
Improve product energy efficiency through activity-based power and power management features.
Design products with easily separable components that use similar materials to facilitate reuse, repair, remanufacturing, and recycling.
| Focus area | Principle |
|---|---|
| Focus area:Material use |
Principle:
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| Focus area:Standardize and modularize |
Principle:
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| Focus area:Packaging and accessories |
Principle:
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| Focus area:Smart energy consumption |
Principle:
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| Focus area:Disassembly, repair, and reuse |
Principle:
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We have a goal to incorporate Circular Design Principles into 100% of our new products and packaging by fiscal 2025.
Over the past four years, we have created and scaled an operating system to develop processes and tools, align business strategies, and empower our people to make progress toward this goal. The circular design program is operating with key guardrails firmly in place:
In fiscal 2024, the cross-functional team from Supply Chain and Engineering that developed this operating system won a Cisco Pinnacle Award for systematically embedding Circular Design Principles into the product design process, which meaningfully advanced Cisco toward key environmental sustainability goals. The Pinnacle Awards are the highest recognition of product and engineering innovation at Cisco. Watch a video about the winning team.
In fiscal 2021, we developed a circular design evaluation methodology and web-based tool that helps us track progress against the Circular Design goal. The Circular Design Evaluation Tool is based on a series of questions related to each design principle and tabulates a score based on the extent to which the Circular Design Principles are applied to each design. Packaging scores are calculated based on principles associated with the Packaging and Accessories focus area. Product scores are calculated by combining scores from the four remaining focus areas (Material Use; Standardization and Modularization; Smart Energy Consumption; and Disassembly, Repair, and Reuse). The tool was built to easily incorporate future updates to the Circular Design Principles and evaluation methodology. Using the tool, Cisco's engineering teams can connect the Circular Design Principles to their design decisions and identify where the principles are already incorporated in the design and where the gaps are.
As of fiscal year 2024, all new product and packaging designs must be evaluated and achieve a score of at least 75% in the evaluation tool before their release to production. A score of 75% or higher represents substantial incorporation of the Circular Design Principles in our new products and packaging and counts toward our public goal.
In fiscal 2024, we formalized processes and dashboards to support and enforce the mandatory scoring requirement. As a result, all new designs released in fiscal 2024 were successfully evaluated in the tool. We launched a program to recognize innovative designs and highlight teams that substantially incorporated Circular Design Principles into their designs. We also continue to promote our interactive circular design training to key groups across the business. Over 7000 employees have completed the training as of the end of fiscal 2024.
96% of new products and packaging designs released in fiscal 2024 substantially incorporated Circular Design Principles. In fiscal 2025, we will build on the momentum and take the program to the next phase of development. We will review and evolve the Circular Design Principles, methodology, and tool based on key learnings, stakeholder feedback, and external requirements.
| Percentage of new Cisco products and packaging incorporating Circular Design Principles | |
|---|---|
| FY22 | 4% |
| FY23 | 27% |
| FY24 | 96% |
Design teams have an opportunity to include circular design innovations in the tool. These innovations include novel materials, components, or process changes that can reduce the environmental impact of a product or packaging. These are reviewed by a Circular Design Innovation Committee twice a quarter and assigned scores based on the characteristics described above. This catalyzes the sharing of new ideas and increases collaboration across product and packaging teams on how to design for circularity. Innovation submissions are incorporated into internal and external case studies to further highlight circular designs and share ideas across the business.
Cisco’s products are designed to convey Cisco’s brand of quality and innovation. We updated our industrial design guidelines to incorporate brand requirements and Circular Design Principles. As a result, the updated industrial design playbook includes guidelines such as: avoid the usage of fully cosmetic and nonfunctional plastic parts and optimize the product form for packaging, among others.
We engage employees to learn more about circular design so they can implement new ideas and increase the incorporation of Circular Design Principles. Between fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2024, we hosted five product teardown events where we analyzed a total of 18 different products. During these sessions, we brought together engineers, project managers, and marketers to analyze and take apart the packaging and components of selected products. They identified existing circular design practices that can be shared across the product development community and opportunities for improvement. This was also an opportunity for attendees to upskill and improve their ability to design with a sustainability-focused mindset. Several of our extended supply chain partners, including design manufacturing and recycling partners, also participated in a few of the sessions. They gave input on how to improve current and future designs for circularity, such as how to improve the recyclability of the product once it reaches its end of life. In fiscal 2025, we aim to embed circular design-focused teardowns into the new product development process across the business units.
In addition to the Circular Design goal, we have set a public goal to reduce plastic used in our products.
In fiscal 2021, Cisco exceeded our fiscal 2025 goal to reduce use of virgin plastics in products by 20% compared to a fiscal 2018 base year, and we closed out the goal. Building on the momentum and key learnings from this goal, in fiscal 2023, we set an additional goal that by fiscal 2025, 50% of the plastic used in our products (by weight) will be made of recycled content (excluding commodity components from suppliers and products designed and manufactured by our Original Design Manufacturers). To scale these efforts, we collaborated with leaders across Cisco's engineering and supply chain organizations to drive adoption of recycled plastic in our products. As part of our journey to minimize the use of virgin plastic, our teams are sourcing more recycled plastic parts and designing plastic out of our products. For example, select models of our Desk Phone 9800 series consist of at least 74% post-consumer recycled plastic, and the Meraki MR36 wireless access point uses 60% post-consumer recycled plastic in the top and bottom covers. Additionally, some products in our Catalyst series of network switches are designed without bezels, the plastic cosmetic surface on the outside of a device. In fiscal 2024, 41% of the total plastic used in our products was made of recycled content.
Over the past few years, numerous initiatives have been implemented at Cisco, such as:
These initiatives have now evolved into common product design practices that are enforced through our Circular Design Principles and Evaluation Tool.
Released in fiscal 2022, the Webex Room Bar is a video collaboration bar for huddle spaces and small meeting rooms. It was redesigned with a simplified architecture to reduce the number of internal components compared to its predecessor, resulting in over 32,000 pounds of material savings per year. It uses at least 55% post-consumer recycled plastic resin. We have also eliminated the use of foam in the regular box-in-the-box packaging for the Room Bar by using a fiber-based, double-tray design instead. When connected to certain displays, the Room Bar can automatically configure the brightness and latency of the display for natural video conferencing upon installation and turn the display on and off automatically, thereby saving energy.
Cisco’s NCS1K product family is a complex system made up of controller cards, optical interfaces, fan trays, and power supplies. Given this complexity, thoughtful design for circularity is important. The NCS1K product team developed the device for multiple, extended life cycles with redundant fans (one can be repaired while the other runs), easily replaceable modules, and a working hours counter that provides refurbishers with runtime data. To enhance the product’s energy efficiency, the product uses intelligent cooling, selective power shut down, and an 80 PLUS Platinum-rated power supply. We collaborated with suppliers to reduce plastic and waste in packaging, such as shipping mounting brackets in fiber-based envelopes instead of plastic bags.
For over a decade, Unified Computing System (UCS) servers have been engineered to be sustainable by design. This product was awarded the 2023 SEAL Sustainable Product Award. Built with modular, easily removable components, its upgradeable designs help to extend the use of the chassis, power supply, cooling, and other major components, and it is optimized for repair, reuse, and eventual recycling. This architecture allows the X-Series to consume roughly 50% less raw material over three generations than traditional rack servers. The latest X-Series architecture also features technology innovations such as efficient 54V power distribution, intelligent fan controls, zone-based cooling, and 80 PLUS Titanium-rated power supplies. The team has also eliminated wet paint, reduced powder coating by 62% compared to the prior generation, and implemented post-consumer recycled resin in 77% of plastic parts. Cisco offers multipack shipping for smaller units and high-volume orders to reduce packaging, and customers can opt out of product accessories they don't need, such as power cords. Customers receive the product in packaging made of recycled materials, and they view paper documentation via a QR code.
A key priority for Cisco is continuing to improve the performance of our products while maintaining, or reducing, their energy use. This allows us to address our most significant source of emissions, make our products more competitive, help customers save on energy costs, and make progress toward our 2040 net-zero goal. More information on emissions from the use of our products can be found in our Scope 3 emissions table.
In fiscal 2024, Cisco became one of the first companies to achieve an ENERGY STAR® certification in the Large Networking Equipment category. ENERGY STAR, run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, aims to provide consumers with energy efficient products and practices. This certification marks a step Cisco is taking to enable smart purchasing decisions and partner with our customers on our shared path to net zero. For more information, please refer to our blog post about these ENERGY STAR certifications.
Many of Cisco's hardware products provide an architecture with “energy scalability,” one that can provide energy-efficient service for specific traffic types, traffic demands, customer usage, and installations for the intended industry. When we evaluate product energy efficiency, we typically consider the power performance of the system. We also often measure the efficiency as electricity passes through each component or function. This can include, for example, the external Power Supply Units (PSUs), intermediate bus converter, point of load, and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), memory, or other chips.
Cisco continues to make investments in product energy efficiency to meet the challenges of increased power demands and ASIC speeds across the portfolio. Cisco’s investments can be split into four primary product energy-efficiency engineering initiatives:
In today's world, energy usage and efficiency are critical components of our technology and operations. Emerging technologies, such as AI, can require significant processing power, and with the increasing number of data centers, it is essential to innovate continuously to minimize the energy consumption of our products. To manage the growing demand for electricity and advance industry-wide emissions reduction goals, we continue to evaluate and refine our power measurement methodologies. Cisco has developed a standardized approach for consistent and reliable power measurement. For more details on this methodology, please refer to our white paper on power measurement.
A life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to model the environmental impacts of a product across multiple impact categories over the product life cycle, from cradle to grave. We use LCAs to quantify key environmental impacts of our products, identify hot spots for continuous product design and operational improvement, and work to identify opportunities to reduce resources used throughout our supply chain.
We align with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14040’s definition that the primary function of LCAs is “identifying opportunities to improve the environmental performance of products at various points in their life cycle,” and not just the final number that is calculated. Comparing LCA results should be avoided unless “the assumptions and context of each study are equivalent.” Since assumptions are often not published, it is not recommended to compare results of LCAs or Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) estimates of various products.
Our LCAs use the five product life cycle stages defined by the GHG Protocol in the Product Life Cycle Accounting and Reporting Standard, which is in accordance with the ISO 14040:44 standards:
An LCA takes multiple impact categories into account, including not only GHG impact, but also land use, water use, ocean acidification, and more. In building our LCA approach, we have used multiple external tools and data sources. We use three LCA tools for our analyses: LCA for Experts (GaBi), SimaPro, and Product Attributes to Impact Algorithm (PAIA). Our external data sources include Ecoinvent, Sphera’s Professional database, and Extension database XI: Electronics. View examples of Cisco product life cycle assessments below.
In fiscal 2024, to address the need for LCAs across our product portfolio, we developed a scalable LCA model including environmental impact reports aligned to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14040/44 standards. This intent of this model is to improve the quality and decrease the resource-intensiveness of performing LCAs, and it can be used to model most Cisco hardware products from cradle to grave in order to address internal and external stakeholder interest. With the large number of products in our portfolio, we started by using this model for representative products across Cisco product families. In fiscal 2025, we plan to continue using this model to continuously improve our product designs and processes.
LCAs using this model will be published and can be accessed on the environmental impact reporting page. The results of these LCAs are not intended for comparison across products or across environmental impact categories. An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is needed to report comparable LCA data and because there are currently no Product Category Rules (PCRs) that apply to Cisco's products, we are unable to generate EPDs to use for comparison. This is mentioned in the Ecolabels section below.
In fiscal 2024, using the scalable LCA model, we performed an LCA on Cisco’s C9300-48P networking switch in order to assess the environmental impact of the switch. The LCA covers the life cycle of the C9300-48P switch from cradle to grave over a five-year lifespan. The model quantifies impact from the switch being properly disposed of or recycled at the end of life, assuming a five-year lifespan. The results from this study across four impact categories are shown in the graph below.
Impact category results were categorized into life cycle stages and cover the manufacturing, transportation, use, disposal, and reuse phases. The use phase is the main contributor to the GHG emissions, primary energy demand (PED), and blue water consumption (BWC) of the switch, as it’s constantly consuming energy throughout its lifespan. The switch was modeled as being used in the United States, which relies primarily on non-clean sources of energy. Additionally, this contributes to the use phase being the main contributor for BWC because the energy sources need water for electricity generation.
The manufacturing of the switch also contributes to its environmental impact. Within the manufacturing phase, key electrical components such as the printed circuit boards (PCBs) and integrated circuits greatly influence the overall footprint due to their energy intensive and complex fabrication processes. The Power Supply Unit (PSU) and other electro-mechanical components also play a significant role in influencing the manufacturing footprint. The manufacturing phase is the largest driver of abiotic depletion potential (ADP), which is due to the use of materials and the production processes for both mechanical and electrical components. Many of these components are composed of metals and minerals that require resource-intensive processing and significantly contribute to the manufacturing footprint.
This LCA study was performed to inform product development and internal decision-making by assessing the environmental impact of the switch. A full LCA report of this study, along with other environmental impact studies, can be found on the environmental impact reporting page.
Based on our LCA on the Webex Desk Pro (completed in fiscal 2022), a video endpoint device, the pie charts below show the distribution of environmental impacts in the manufacturing phase of the product. The use phase contribution to abiotic depletion (the decreasing availability of nonrenewable resources like minerals and fossil fuels) is found to be negligible, while that of climate change is described below.
1 Some figures may not total 100% due to rounding of underlying data.
The LCA was conducted from cradle to grave and mapped the impacts of the Desk Pro on climate change and resource depletion from manufacturing to end of life. With an assumed lifespan of five years, the use phase impacts were calculated based on different use scenarios (home office, meeting room, huddle room), and the end-of-life impacts were calculated based on average recycling rates in the European Union.
The results indicated that the use phase of the product contributes to the highest proportion of energy consumed across the product life cycle. The associated climate change impacts from the use phase, however, vary significantly in accordance with the location of use and the local grid’s emissions. The LCD screen and printed wiring boards (PWBs) in the Desk Pro have the highest climate change and resource depletion impacts during production, especially due to energy consumption and the use of materials like gold and copper in the PWBs.
The study also attempted to address the difference in climate change impacts from using the WebEx Desk Pro instead of commuting. This analysis was conducted for a few cities around the world and considered two scenarios: working from home instead of commuting to work, and meeting on video instead of undertaking long-distance travel to go to another office. The product life cycle of a WebEx Desk Pro, from production through five years of use independent of location, is neutralized by avoiding emissions associated with one person traveling on a single long-haul flight.
Due to increasing stakeholder interest in GHG impact specifically, and the urgency of addressing climate change, the primary focus of our LCA work is to develop PCFs, which analyze the GHG emissions impact of our products. Our PCF work has shown that our products generate the most GHG emissions during the product-use life cycle phase.
We also use PAIA to conduct streamlined PCF exercises. PAIA’s methodology involves relating product attributes such as PWB area or product weight to its GHG impact to provide an estimated PCF. PAIA provides a streamlined approach specific to GHG impact, which allows for quicker analysis, but can only be used for our servers and network switches, given what is included in the tool.
Over the course of fiscal 2024, we increased the number of LCAs completed for our products to better reflect Cisco’s vast product portfolio.
In fiscal 2025, we will continue to use the scalable LCA model to produce LCAs across our product portfolio, and we plan to complete a third-party critical review of the model and LCA reports.
We also plan to continue investigating opportunities to leverage our LCAs and PCFs to estimate our products' carbon footprints to reduce their emissions as well as inform supplier engagement strategies.
We continue to look for opportunities to participate in engagements to develop more robust and comparable PCF and LCA standards and tools. We also have ongoing participation in multiple working groups to provide input on the PAIA methodology and tool used to perform PCFs. Details on the tool can be found in the product carbon footprints section above, and details on the PAIA consortium can be found with information on examples of initiatives and organizations in which Cisco participates.
Ecolabels are markings that are applied to products to support an environmental claim. ISO 14020 classifies Ecolabels as either Type I, Type II, or Type III, which can be defined as the following:
When applicable, Cisco’s products are evaluated against the following Type I ecolabels: ENERGY STAR®, Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT), and 80 PLUS. ENERGY STAR looks at the energy efficiency of the product, while EPEAT evaluates a larger set of environmental and social criteria related to each product, such as:
In fiscal 2024, Cisco became one of the first companies to have networking switches (Catalyst 9000 family) certified to ENERGY STAR, which is aimed at promoting energy-efficient products and helps consumers easily identify which products are environmentally favorable over others.
Cisco now has products certified to the ENERGY STAR standard under the Enterprise Servers, Large Network Equipment, and Telephones categories. Cisco also has EPEAT-registered products under the Servers category listed in EPEAT's online registry, and PSUs that are certified to 80 PLUS, a program specifically for PSU efficiency. These certified PSUs can be found on CLEAResult's online database.
An EPD is a Type Ill environmental ecolabel that is self-declared by the manufacturer and describes the environmental performance of a product from a life cycle perspective through the use of an LCA. The EPD must be independently verified and developed using product category rules (PCR) specific to the product under evaluation. At this time, there are no published PCRs that apply to Cisco's products; therefore, we are unable to generate EPDs.
In fiscal 2025, we plan to continue to participate in working groups to support the development of PCRs for information and communications technology equipment. We also intend to continue to build our strategy around ecolabels and pursue additional ENERGY STAR and EPEAT certifications for our products when applicable.
In a perfectly circular economy, there is no such thing as waste. The current reality is that many packaging materials become waste after first use. We are working to remove unnecessary packaging and make what remains reusable and/or easy to recycle. Protection of products is the first priority for packaging, as repairing or replacing products that are damaged in transit creates additional negative business and environmental impacts. Some of the primary guidelines we follow when developing our packaging are:
Beyond basic packaging and material requirements, Cisco employs the principles above to evaluate additional aspects of packaging design. As part of the development process, packaging for new product introductions is evaluated against Cisco's circular design criteria. For Cisco legacy products, including those produced by our acquired companies, we are working to incorporate packaging best practices. The tables below capture our priorities and how Cisco has made progress in implementing them:
| Material type | Description of effort | Project examples |
|---|---|---|
| Material type: Foam | Description of effort: Remove foam from packaging where possible. |
Project examples:
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| Material type: Plastic bags | Description of effort: Remove plastic bags from packaging where possible. |
Project examples:
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| Material type: Corrugated packaging | Description of effort: Reduce use of corrugated packaging where possible. |
Project examples:
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| Material type | Description of effort | Project examples |
|---|---|---|
| Material type: Recycled plastic thermoform cushions | Description of effort: Use thermoform cushions made of recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE) instead of foam. |
Project examples:
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| Material type: Fiber-flute | Description of effort: Use fiber-flute made from 100% recycled content instead of foam cushioning. |
Project examples:
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| Material type: Molded pulp | Description of effort: Use recyclable, fiber-based cushions instead of foam. |
Project examples:
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| Material type: Corrugated | Description of effort: Use recyclable, fiber-based cushions instead of foam. |
Project examples:
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Cisco specifies to our packaging suppliers that all fiber-based and rigid plastic packaging must contain a minimum of 25% recycled content. Most of our packaging for new products is made either of a single material or of multiple materials that are separable for recycling.
In our global market, customer, municipal, and regional recycling practices vary greatly. Customers’ ability to recycle our packaging depends on the recycling facilities in place in their location. The plastic used in Cisco packaging falls into categories identified by Resin Identification Codes 1 to 7. Polyethylene (codes 2 and 4) is the predominant material, and Cisco’s plastic components carry labels indicating their plastic recycling code number to support end-of-life recycling.
We strive to use recyclable packaging. However, sometimes there are limited options for alternative, sustainable materials. For example, although metallized antistatic bags are not easily recycled, they are essential to the safe transport of products susceptible to damage from electrostatic discharge. We size bags to best fit the product being shipped and minimize the amount of material we use. Our contract manufacturers also reuse antistatic bags.
Product protection remains our highest priority, as damaged shipments result in materials waste and additional emissions impact. Foams and expanded polymers are the common materials used for protective packaging because of their strong cushioning ability; however, these materials are not widely accepted in scaled recycling facilities.
Cisco has set a goal to reduce foam used in its product packaging by 75%, as measured by weight, by the end of fiscal 2025, using fiscal 2019 as the base year. We continue to make strides towards this fiscal 2025 goal. However, like other companies with ambitious targets, we are facing headwinds. Regardless, we will continue to drive meaningful action and innovate toward our goals. At the end of fiscal 2024, Cisco achieved 57% foam reduction. Our foam removal strategy targets products with the highest foam use per unit and/or highest product ship volumes. Cisco's Packaging Engineering team is focused on redesigning packaging to remove foam and employ materials supporting circularity. Examples of legacy products that were redesigned in fiscal 2024 include:
Foam replacement: Recycled HDPE Thermoform
Foam reduction in FY24: 49,374 pounds
Corrugated board reduction in FY24: 35,868 pounds
Foam replacement: Corrugated board retention pack
Foam reduction in FY24: 5286 pounds
Foam replacement: Fiber-flute
Foam reduction in FY24: 21,169 pounds
What happens to our packaging at the end of its useful life influences how Cisco’s product packaging is designed. Packaging materials that are separable and recyclable will be more easily absorbed by local municipal recycling programs. Cisco does not collect used packaging, as shipping empty product packaging to Cisco for recycling would create unnecessary environmental impacts. However, we are exploring reusable packaging options for specific scenarios. One example is to employ reusable packaging for customers near our distribution sites. This would allow packaging to move between two locations for reuse, while minimizing the environmental impact of shipping empty material.
Designing for packaging efficiency reduces material use and shrinks the overall carton size, while simultaneously providing an appropriate level of product protection. A more efficient package reduces packaging waste and GHG emissions from transport. Packaging efficiency is measured by comparing actual weight to dimensional weight. Dimensional weight is an industry-standard calculation applied to determine the amount of space used by a carton or container. It is calculated by multiplying the length, width, and height of the carton and dividing by a dimensional factor. Reducing the gap between dimensional weight and actual weight indicates a reduction in excess space in the package. Cisco measures progress toward packaging efficiency achieved through packaging redesigns.
In fiscal 2024, we reached 76% cumulative improvement, surpassing Cisco’s fiscal 2025 packaging efficiency goal of 50%. We continue to monitor and report progress.
Cisco continues to explore alternatives to plastic-based stretch wrap to stabilize and protect palletized products in transit. In fiscal 2019, we piloted reusable pallet wraps in our operations and continued to use reusable wraps through fiscal 2024. This effort allowed us to avoid the use of 253,680 pounds of plastic wrap over six years, which is equivalent to over 20 million plastic shopping bags.
Cisco packaging engineers also work closely with our upstream supply chain partners to develop packaging that can be reused throughout the manufacturing process. This practice helps avoid packaging waste from reboxing between supply chain partners. For example, the Cisco Catalyst IR8340 Rugged Router packaging was redesigned in fiscal 2022, allowing inbound packaging to be reused at the direct fulfillment step. In fiscal 2024, this resulted in 7741 pounds of corrugated material savings.
Additionally, Cisco’s “box patch” program helps our supply chain partners avoid wasted material from reboxing and emissions associated with returns of damaged goods. The "box patch" is an adhesive label that covers minor cosmetic damage that can occur during shipping. This process prevents the need for reboxing and shipping between logistics centers, reducing corrugated waste and transportation emissions while avoiding shipping delays.
Some items, like external power supplies and main units, require a higher level of protection during shipment, and we work on addressing this as we continue to engage our distributors on new solutions and advance toward our goals. We are also working to improve the data integrity of packaging material composition to better quantify our use of recycled materials and to support external stakeholder expectations.
Cisco is enabling customers to advance circularity through their purchasing decisions.
Cisco’s certified remanufactured products are backed by the same Cisco warranty and service options as new products. Equipment is sold through Cisco authorized resellers and is available in more than 100 countries.
Allows partners and distributors to boost their profitability and maximize customer relationships with competitive pricing on industry-leading network solutions, which includes increased discounts on select areas including switching, routing, wireless, IP telephony, security, and other advanced technologies.
An IT payment solution supporting circularity and making it easier for customers to build a sustainable technology strategy to support their ESG goals. The program offers predictable payments, an up-front incentive, free returns shipping, and a Circular Economy Program confirmation on returned assets. Learn how Cosentino and Silks Place Tainan, Cisco customers, took advantage of Green Pay.
Recognizes partners’ commitment to sustainability as they join Cisco’s priority to reduce the resources we consume and the waste we generate. The specialization provides foundational tools that can help customers make progress toward their sustainability goals. It provides exclusive access to the Takeback Incentive, a global partner incentive with incremental front-end discounts of up to 7% on new products for customer refresh or migration opportunities, as well as exclusive access to the Sustainability Estimator. The Sustainability Estimator enables partners to model the estimated amount of energy savings and emissions reduction that a customer may realize by migrating to Cisco’s latest generation of products.
Cisco works with its partners and customers to accelerate the transition to the circular economy. To learn more about our Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Orange Business to reduce GHG emissions in addition to promoting circularity, click here.
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.
At the World Economic Forum in 2018, our CEO joined forces with the seven other large companies in signing the Capital Equipment Pledge, committing to 100% product return upon request, at no cost to our customers, in feasible markets. In support of this pledge, the Cisco Takeback and Reuse Program is currently available in 100+ countries globally.
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 tested to support adherence to the latest manufacturing specifications.
The Customer Experience 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/ML prediction engine and robotic process automation. In fiscal 2024, IRE helped avoid nearly 13,600 RMAs through automation of workflows to troubleshoot some of the most common issues with products in the field. This process helps reduce GHG 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 Cisco returns. Some returns programs are highlighted below.
| KPI | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KPI: Returned material reused, percent | FY20:14.2% | FY21: 14.1% | FY22: 7.9% | FY23: 12.1% | FY24: 11.5% | 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% | FY24: 88.3% | 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% | FY24: 0.2% | 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 tonnes | FY20:10,383 | FY21: 9478 | FY22: 8561 | FY23: 10,213 | FY24: 12,028 | Comments: Total weight of reused, recycled, and landfilled material. |
Reuse is among our top priorities. Returned devices that can be reused are remanufactured and can then either be 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. 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.
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 National Institute of Standards and Technology (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 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 integrated services router (ISR) and small form-factor pluggable (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 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 recycler-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. 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 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 and compliance with relevant environmental regulations, such as Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), Battery & Packaging Compliance, under Environmental Compliance.
Map current as of fiscal year 2024
Circular Design: Apply Circular Design Principles to our products and packaging and extend the life cycle of our products from the outset.
Circular Offerings: Enable customers and partners to adopt circularity through a portfolio of offers, including Cisco Refresh, Green Pay and our Takeback Incentive.
Recover & Redeploy: Recapture hardware to advance a circular life cycle and extending the lifespan of products.
Material use: Incorporate recycled content into our products, reduce the use of nonrenewable materials, and consider resource scarcity risks as part of material selection.
Standardization and modularization: Standardize and modularize components and enclosures to simplify our supply chain and enable reuse, repair, remanufacturing, and recycling.
Packaging and accessories: Use recycled and renewable packaging materials, reduce foam and plastic use, move toward fiber-based designs, eliminate unused accessories, and increase packaging efficiency.
Smart energy consumption: Improve product energy efficiency through activity-based power and power management features.
Disassembly, repair, and reuse: Design products with easily separable components that use similar materials to facilitate reuse, repair, remanufacturing, and recycling.
FY21: Launch
FY22: Pilot
FY23: Deploy
FY24: Scale
FY25: Evolve
| Manufacturing | Transport | Use | Disposal | Reuse | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abiotic Depletion Potential | Manufacturing99.0% | Transport0.1% | Use0.4% | Disposal0.0% | Reuse0.0% |
| Global Warming Potential | Manufacturing14.3% | Transport0.5% | Use85.2% | Disposal0.0% | Reuse0.0% |
| Primary Energy Demand | Manufacturing12.5% | Transport0.4% | Use87.2% | Disposal0.0% | Reuse0.0% |
| Blue Water Consumption | Manufacturing23.8% | Transport0.1% | Use76.2% | Disposal0.0% | Reuse0.0% |
Note: Numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
