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CEDaCI – Circular Economy for the Data Centre Industry
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The CEDaCI project developed eco-design guidelines, product life extension strategies, and digital decision-making tools to transition the data centre industry toward a circular economy. Funded by Interreg North-West Europe, the five-year research collaboration united 20+ partners from academia and industry across seven countries to address the sector's linear resource model and prepare implementation of the EU Circular Economy Action Plan.
The data centre industry consumes millions of tonnes of resources — including Critical Raw Materials — yet operates on a linear economy model. Average server refresh cycles of 3–5 years generate substantial electronic waste, while current recycling infrastructure recovers only a fraction of valuable materials. CEDaCI tackled this systemic challenge through a whole-systems approach that connected all ten data centre sub-sectors, from design and manufacturing to refurbishment and recycling.
The project introduced sustainable design thinking across the entire equipment life cycle. Rather than optimizing individual stages in isolation, CEDaCI bridged communication gaps between sub-sectors that had previously operated in silos — linking hardware designers with recyclers, procurement teams with refurbishment specialists, and manufacturers with end-of-life processors.
Key Outputs
Eco-design guidelines and strategies: Supplementary guidelines based on empirical data from the assessment of different server models, extending existing EU Ecodesign recommendations to support product life extension and increased recyclability.
Life Cycle Assessment models and databases: Comprehensive environmental, social, and economic LCA models built collaboratively by partners across North-West Europe, covering the full life cycle of data centre equipment.
Circular Data Centre Compass (CDCC): An online multi-step LCA decision-making tool that enables industry stakeholders to assess equipment across all life cycle stages — compare, evaluate, and plan end-of-life scenarios — with graphic feedback and detailed PDF reports.
CRM recovery research: Technologies and processes to increase Critical Raw Material reclamation from data centre electronic waste, reducing dependency on virgin materials from geopolitically sensitive locations.
Cross-sectoral network: Over 100 members across the data centre industry, connected through co-creation workshops, training sessions, and publications to foster circular economy adoption.
IDED's Role
IDED (then operating as SDIA — Sustainable Digital Infrastructure Alliance) contributed to the project from Hamburg, Germany. As a partner focused on the reuse and refurbishment of data centre equipment, SDIA examined economic and energy-related factors of extending server lifetimes, providing datasets that fed into the project's LCA models and shared database.
unsere partner
London South Bank University (LSBU): Project lead. Assessed server design, material content, and manufacturing techniques. Developed inventory datasets for LCA models and led life cycle costing and economic models.
WeLOOP: Built environmental Life Cycle Assessment models using data collected across the partnership. Developed technology to increase equipment recycling and CRM reclamation from electronic waste.
Operational Intelligence: Contributed to LCA model construction and data centre equipment assessment from a UK operational perspective.
SDIA (now IDED): Examined reuse and refurbishment of data centre equipment, focusing on economic and energy-related factors. Provided datasets for the project's LCA models and shared database.
Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy: Developed the Social LCA model in collaboration with other life cycle assessment partners.
Green IT Amsterdam: Focused on reuse and refurbishment pathways for data centre equipment in the Netherlands.
Host in Ireland & Free ICT Europe: Established SME networks in Belgium, Ireland, and Luxembourg to support circular economy implementation.