2022 Asset Lifecycle Management Sustainability Report

Emissions from end-user devices are on track to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 12.8% per year according to McKinsey’s The green IT revolution: A blueprint for CIOs to combat climate change report. The report found that “89% of organizations recycle less than 10% of their hardware overall.” It’s clear that the need to build sustainability into the IT asset lifecycle is more important now than ever. CIOs are positioned to make a large impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions by focusing on the lifecycle of their organization’s IT devices.

Given this trend, it should come as no surprise that customers increasingly request sustainable IT practices from their suppliers, driving the entire IT supply chain to adopt more environmentally friendly approaches.

Iron Mountain’s Asset Lifecycle Management (ALM) business is dedicated to sustainable solutions. By showcasing sustainability best practices for our customers, we can inspire and demonstrate a material impact that supports both the environment and organizations’ bottom lines.

Who we are

For over 70 years, Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE: IRM) has been our customers’ strategic partner to care for their information and assets. A global leader in storage and information management services and trusted by more than 225,000 organizations around the world, including over 95% of the Fortune 1000, we protect, unlock, and extend the value of their work— whatever it is, wherever it is, however it’s stored.

We create the framework necessary to bridge the gaps between paper, digital, media, and physical data and extract value along its lifecycle, enabling organizational resilience. And all this with a commitment to sustainability at our core.

Our values

Act with integrity

• We are open and honest and live our values every day.

Own safety and security

• We protect ourselves and each other from harm, and secure our customers’ assets as if they were our own.

Build customer value

• We constantly look for ways to better serve our customers and improve their business.

Take ownership

• We take personal responsibility for the success of our teams, our customers, and our company.

Promote inclusion and teamwork

• We look for and value each other’s unique ideas and perspectives to get better results.

Iron Mountain enterprise goals:

• Iron Mountain will achieve net-zero emissions by 2040, 10 years ahead of the Paris Climate Accord.
• We will go beyond our current science-based target (25% reduction of absolute greenhouse gas emissions from our 2016 baseline) and by 2025 will achieve a reduction of 25% of GHG emissions from Scope 1 and 2 energy sources from our 2019 baseline.
• We commit to transitioning 100% of company cars and 50% of vans to electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030. As an initial step, we commit to converting 10% of our worldwide fleet to EVs by 2025.
• By 2040, we will drive circular economy innovation by working toward zero waste in our operations and collaborating with others to create closed-loop products and services.
• We will maintain a 100% renewable electricity supply for our global data center business and achieve 90% renewable electricity corporate-wide by 2025 – 15 years ahead of our RE100 commitment.

Our purpose

Our mission is to be the unwavering and trusted partner for our customers, dedicated to expertly overseeing, safeguarding, and maximizing the value of their IT assets through innovative solutions.

Our global ALM business empowers organizations to cultivate customized and enduring IT asset management best practices while aligning with their sustainability objectives. Our state-of-the-art facilities offer certified, secure environments with a full chain of custody.

Iron Mountain’s Asset Lifecycle Management business stands at the forefront of the IT asset disposition (ITAD) and IT asset management (ITAM) industry, meticulously adhering to industry standards in regulatory compliance, environmental stewardship, physical security, and business resilience. Our commitment to sustainability is steadfast and we’re setting ambitious goals to continually drive positive change.

At a glance

As a global business dedicated to storing, protecting, and managing information and assets, we provide a strategic approach to IT asset management that protects data, ensures optimized use, maximizes return on investment, and minimizes environmental impact for our customers.

Acquiring ITRenew

At Iron Mountain, we continually seek to expand our portfolio of products and services to help our customers meet their environmental goals.

As a result, in 2022 we acquired ITRenew, a leading provider of sustainable asset disposition, recycling, and remarketing solutions. Its comprehensive portfolio of best-in-class decommissioning and data security services has now been fully integrated into our Asset Lifecycle Management business.

The ALM organization provides customers with an end-to-end platform approach and an extensive portfolio of solutions for their IT asset lifecycle management needs. IT asset management services include storage, configuration, deployment, device support, and secure and efficient IT asset decommissioning, all with a transparent, traceable chain of custody and comprehensive audit-ready data erasure. The business has multiple primary and secondary paths for retired hardware remarketing for higher value recovery and lower total cost of ownership.

Our reportable, environmentally responsible services and our circular approach to reclaiming, remarketing and recycling contribute to a reduction in carbon emissions and electronic waste (e-waste) in compliance with required laws and regulations.

Our ALM solutions help our customers reach their environmental goals. According to the Global e-Waste Monitor 2022 report, the world generates in excess of 50 million metric tons of e-waste annually, of which just over 17% is recorded as having been recycled in environmentally sound facilities. If current trends continue, the annual figure is projected to grow to close to 75 million metric tons by 2030.

We provide customers with secure IT asset management solutions that contribute to the circular economy by increasing the useful life of end-user devices, decreasing the amount of e-waste going to landfills, recapturing value from retired electronics, protecting information by securely erasing sensitive data, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Customer sustainability & value recovery

Iron Mountain’s Asset Lifecycle Management business plays a significant role in increasing sustainability for our customers by minimizing environmental impact, reducing waste, and maximizing the efficient use of resources.

We enable customers to ensure their resources are allocated efficiently. This means they are purchasing only the necessary equipment, reducing over-provisioning, and avoiding the accumulation of unused or outdated assets and extending the useful life of IT assets through redeployment or remarketing. This minimizes the production and disposal of unnecessary IT equipment, reducing e-waste and conserving resources.

Our services can identify and retire outdated and energy-inefficient hardware and replace it with more energy-efficient options. This reduces electricity consumption, which not only lowers operating costs but also decreases the carbon footprint associated with IT operations.

IT assets are often replaced prematurely due to lack of management. Working with customers to develop a well-planned lifecycle strategy means assets can be maintained and upgraded as needed, extending their useful lifespan. This reduces the frequency of disposal and the need for manufacturing new equipment, which is resource-intensive and contributes to pollution.

Our IT asset disposition services ensure that end- of-life equipment is properly disposed of or recycled in compliance with environmental regulations. Recycling and responsible disposal prevents toxic materials from entering landfills and reduces the environmental impact of e-waste. Our processes ensure compliance with environmental regulations, such as the proper disposal of hazardous materials, adherence to energy efficiency standards, and meeting reporting requirements.

Our monitoring and reporting capabilities help customers track their sustainability efforts. This data can be used to set goals, measure progress, and make data-driven decisions to further reduce the environmental impact of their IT operations.

Value recovery

In addition, our IT asset remarketing, the practice of reselling retired IT assets and components like laptops, desktops, servers, hard drives, CPUs, memory etc., helps customers with their IT cost management. Not only do our remarketing options enable companies to recover a portion of their initial investment, but it also contributes to offsetting the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of these assets. By extending the lifespan of equipment and components through remarketing, organizations can meet their sustainability goals and reduce the burden on landfills, achieving a dual win – for the business and the environment.

Working with customers, we evaluate each piece of equipment to determine its potential for reuse. We use our extensive industry knowledge and recent market results to determine which assets could be remarketed. Once identified, assets are tested, wiped of all data, cleaned, and graded. Assets with sufficient end-of-life value will be offered for sale to the channel most likely to yield the highest return and customers receive credit for a portion of the Fair Market Value that can be used to offset other processing costs.

We have a large diversified customer base interested in these assets and components ranging from wholesalers, manufacturers, e-tailers, value added resellers, systems integrators and IT end users. Manufacturers who purchase certain components, for example, have their own manufacturing facilities and give components a second life by remanufacturing them into new assets thus driving further circularity.

Any assets that don’t qualify for remarketing will have all data destroyed and be recycled in compliance with all federal, state, and local regulations.

By partnering with us, IT organizations can safely and securely enable a second life for their decommissioned hardware assets, aligning with the principles of the circular economy by maximizing resource use and minimizing waste.