Let’s start with the good news. You absolutely don’t have to give up buying a laptop if you’re committed to sustainable living,
However, many manufacturers proclaim their products are sustainable even when parts are glued or soldered together. Proprietary parts are commonplace, and these prevent easy repairs or upgrades. But are computers made using recycled resources the silver bullet? And why, fundamentally, is the production of computers so bad for the environment in the first place?
Why is the manufacture of electronics bad for the environment?
The Öko-Institut (Institute for Applied Ecology)’s digital CO2 footprint calculator points out that a considerable portion of our electronics’ environmental footprint comes from computer hardware. This is because the production of a new computer requires many different materials. Some of these materials, such as glass for the display or aluminium used for casing, are fairly easy to recycle. However, the same can’t be said for others. Recycling precious metals such as gold, copper or cobalt is extremely complex and expensive. Most manufacturers, therefore, rely on newly extracted materials. Typically, these originate from mines in Africa or South America.
This process not only requires a lot of water, which is usually in short supply in the affected regions. It is also extremely CO2-intensive, releases toxins into the environment and takes place under exploitative and dangerous conditions for miners.
It’s also estimated that materials from all over the world are brought together to produce these devices. Most of the semiconductors that form the basis for computer chips, for example, are produced in Taiwan. These components have to be shipped to the USA for assembly by US companies and then on to Europe for European retailers. They travel on vast cargo ships and aeroplanes that require enormous volumes of fossil fuels to get where they need to go.
Life cycle analyses of laptops look pretty bleak from an ecological point of view. The Öko-Institut estimates that the CO2 equivalents released from these devices alone come to around 62 kg per year per person.
So, should we all be buying notebooks made from recycled materials?
Well-known manufacturers are increasingly offering products that are made from recycled raw materials. Provided that these recycling processes are sufficiently certified and manufacturers make the supply chain transparent, this is, of course, a good thing. However, many of these supposedly sustainable products have false claims, as Philippe Arradon from the IT co-operative Commown revealed to us in an interview.
Environmental labels for notebooks
Do you want to buy a new laptop after all? Then look out for the following environmental labels when buying a new product:
Blue Angel: Cross-product label for resource-conserving production, sustainable raw material production, avoidance of harmful substances, durability and the reduction of noise and radiation
Energy Star: US label that recognises particularly energy-efficient appliances
EPEAT: Environmental label for IT devices only. More than 30,000 registered devices are categorised as “Bronze”, “Silver” and “Gold”.
TCO label: The oldest label for sustainable IT. Among other things, longevity. Energy efficiency and environmental and social compatibility are checked
For example, there are many PCs and notebooks labelled as sustainable that can hardly be repaired or upgraded. Components that could be easily replaced in the past or in comparable products are now soldered or glued together. In the event of a defect or inadequate performance, a new laptop is needed straight away. While this means more sales for manufacturers, it naturally contradicts the supposed sustainability claims of recycled laptops.
How manufacturers certify benefits such as CO2-neutral production, the use of recycled materials and other sustainable practices is another point of criticism. Initiatives to offset CO2, for example through reforestation projects, do not always make sense. New forest areas that are planted as monocultures often produce additional CO2 instead of sequestering carbon.
Efficiently sustainable: refurbished or used purchases
Refurbishment has become increasingly popular on the used technology market in recent years. Specialised companies purchase hardware, check it for faults and possible damage and then sell it on with a new warranty. For customers, this has the advantage of eliminating many uncertainties when buying used products. Unlike private second-hand purchases, there is a return period, financing options and many other advantages of modern online trading.
The case for buying a refurbished device is even stronger when it comes to computers and laptops. Many companies don’t purchase IT hardware outright; instead, they lease it from IT service providers for fixed periods. Since these contracts are time-limited, comparatively recent laptops and computers end up in refurbishment online shops.
Philippe Arradon from Commown describes these business-grade laptops as “comparatively repairable,” noting that they are adapted to meet corporate requirements. This is because it is more common for an IT department or a service provider to upgrade or carry out repairs on older devices than it is with standard consumer products. Software is also an aspect that should be considered when thinking about sustainable laptop use.
Open source operating systems get more out of old hardware
Microsoft’s Windows and Apple’s macOS are the most common operating systems for laptops and desktop PCs. Anyone who buys a new laptop or a second-hand device usually gets one of these two options pre-installed. While both operating systems offer all functions and can be expanded by installing software, they have one problem: Microsoft and Apple ultimately decide how long they are kept secure and future-proof through updates.
In autumn 2025, for example, Microsoft discontinued support for Windows 10. An operating system that will still be used on 200 to 400 million devices when support ends. As a result, users will have to switch to a different operating system, and those who opt for Windows 11 will, in many case,s have to expect slower performance or a larger software installation. In short, Windows 11 runs worse for many users and takes up more hard drive space.
Take part in digital data cleaning
Unnecessary junk data and a hard drive that is too full can further limit the performance of computers. If they are stored in the cloud instead, data storage costs electricity and water. For that reason and many others, it’s impotrant to clean up your data regularly.
The Corporate Digital Responsibility Initiative organises the “Digital Data Cleanup” once a year. The day of action is intended to motivate companies and private individuals to clean hard drives, cloud storage and external hard drives.
Open source operating systems are another key to the continued use of older IT hardware. As they are developed jointly, there are countless variants that are particularly optimised for older hardware. They require less memory, place less demand on the hardware due to fewer background processes or are graphically simpler in order to run more efficiently.
Operating systems such as Linux Ubuntu are also free and have no restrictions on software support from large corporations. They are also more data-secure, are not tied to energy-hungry server farms by AI functions such as Microsoft Copilot or Apple Intelligence and do not even offer fewer functions.
Why repair trumps buying new
IT hardware creates many problems from an ecological perspective. The construction of a single laptop requires raw materials that we currently struggle to source sustainably or ethically. For many years now, the trend in IT hardware has been towards products that are barely repairable or can’t be upgraded when their performance becomes inadequate. This makes buying new desktop PCs and laptops even more challenging if we want to keep our digital CO2 footprint small.
Accordingly, it is rarely advisable to buy products that boast green supply chains but can’t be repaired. This is because the same principle applies to IT hardware: the most sustainable laptop purchase is the one we can avoid. Repairs, upgrades, and replacing the operating system with a resource-efficient open-source version are therefore always the best course of action.
If avoidance is not possible, buying a refurbished device is a safer and greener way to acquire a new laptop. And unlike many new devices, with refurbished PCs you often have the option to directly choose an open-source operating system or customise the configuration to meet your needs right at the point of purchase.
