Carbon insets, tradable certificates that can be sold back to companies sending e-scrap for processing, could provide up to $100 of additional revenue per ton for ITAD and e-scrap companies. | Mulad Images/Shutterstock
ITADs will soon be able to claim an extra $11 to $100 worth of revenue per ton of e-scrap by selling carbon insets, global advisory firm Bloom ESG predicted in its latest white paper.
Big companies are starting to shift from prioritizing carbon insets over older carbon credits, according to the white paper. Carbon insets are tradable certificates that can be sold back to companies sending e-scrap for processing, showing them how many Scope 3 emissions they avoided by reusing and recycling electronics.
“Corporates and technology manufacturers are setting increasingly ambitious Scope 3 emissions targets, which will require significant emission reductions from their complex supply chains,” the authors noted. “For electronics manufacturers and companies with large technology footprints, a significant aspect of their Scope 3 profile lies in the indirect emissions that occur at the end of a product’s life.”
That gives ITAD and e-scrap facilities an opportunity, Bloom ESG predicted, especially as data center and cloud computing demand skyrockets due to AI.
“For ITAD processors that offer environmental certificates, we forecast they will benefit from increased customer demand and significant new revenue streams based on conservative certificate price assumptions,” the white paper noted.
There are also now third-party verified avoided emissions methodologies, which allows avoided emissions to be calculated across any e-scrap category.
“Comparable book-and-claim certificate systems have been established in other commodity markets,” the authors wrote. “The emergence of inset certificates in the clean fuels sector has demonstrated that companies are prepared to pay for the environmental benefits associated with the products and services they procure, while digital registries enable market participants to purchase and retire certificates in an auditable-friendly way.”