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CSR: a new differentiating factor for IT tenders.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a major concern for many companies. More and more customers and investors are demanding sustainable and transparent practices. This has led to increased demand for eco-friendly IT and network connectivity solutions, including routers.

In 2023, 80% of French companies reported having implemented a CSR policy according to MEDEF, and this figure continues to grow. The European CSPD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) reinforces this trend by requiring companies to ensure that their suppliers respect human and environmental rights, a standard that is set to be strengthened by 2030.

How can you meet your customers' new requirements?

Develop environmentally responsible partnerships.

Choosing a partner/supplier committed to CSR is crucial to meeting your customers' requirements and contributing to a sustainable future.

Here are a few points to consider:

1. Environmental certifications: give preference to suppliers certified to ISO 14001 or EMAS.

2. Membership of the United Nations Global Compact, the world's largest initiative dedicated to sustainable business development.

3. Research the supplier's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout its supply chain. Examples include the use of recycled materials or eco-friendly packaging.

Here are some questions to ask your potential suppliers to assess their commitment to sustainable production and transport:

Where are your production sites located?
What modes of transport do you use to ship your products?
What measures are you taking to reduce your carbon footprint?
Do you have any targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions?

Example: EKINOPS' CSR Our partner EKINOPS is a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact and is committed to manufacturing in Europe (including at its factory in Leuven, Belgium) and using 100% recyclable packaging.

Choose environmentally responsible IT equipment.

The choice of IT equipment is also important in minimising your environmental impact.

Here are a few points to consider:

Low carbon footprint: A router such as ONE421 from Ekinops, for example, consumes 138.5 kgCO2eq during use, which is 60% less than equivalent models on the market.

Eco-friendly features: Some routers include features to reduce energy consumption, such as automatic standby mode or intelligent traffic management.

Discover our case study on Ekinops' CSR policy, a key factor in the success of a telecom operator. In particular, we examine Ekinops' ONE421 Gb5T 4G router, which has a carbon footprint 60% lower than equivalent models on the market.

Key figures:

A typical router emits an average of 70% CO2 during use and 30% during manufacture
An eco-friendly router can reduce its CO2 emissions by 60%

To go further...

You can also implement other measures to reduce the environmental impact of your network:

Optimise your network configuration: this reduces energy consumption and improves performance.
Implement a recycling policy: This gives your old routers a second life.

In conclusion, adopting eco-friendly routers is an excellent way to meet your company's CSR requirements and contribute to a sustainable future. Please feel free to contact our team for more information about the eco-friendly solutions we offer.

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Do you have any questions about a topic covered in this article? Please feel free to contact us, our experts will be happy to answer your questions.