Circular Shift: Rethinking how Ireland buys technology

Every year, Ireland’s public bodies spend approximately €18.5 billion on goods, services and works. Much of that spend, including ICT equipment, follows a linear pattern: buy new, use, dispose, making e-waste the world’s fastest-growing waste stream. Yet less than a quarter is formally recycled.

In 2022, global production reached 62 million tonnes, up 82% since 2010. Research by the European Commission suggests up to 80% of a product’s environmental impact is determined at design stage, meaning what we buy, and how it’s made, are critical procurement decisions.

Remanufacturing returns a used product to at least its original performance, and often better, with a warranty matching or exceeding that of a new equivalent. It delivers like-new functionality at significantly lower economic and environmental costs, avoiding most of the harm caused by initial production.

Purchasing remanufactured devices is a key lever green public procurement can deploy. Combined with take-back schemes, life extension clauses and social criteria built into tender specifications, public bodies can reshape what suppliers bring to market driving market-building to make circular products and services the norm.

In Ireland, the policy direction is clear. The Buying Greener: Green Public Procurement Strategy 2024–2027 sets out Target T5 that 80% of public ICT procurement must meet EPEAT Gold, TCO Certified or remanufactured standards. Meanwhile, the EU Right to Repair Directive, which Ireland must transpose, further strengthens the case for longer-use device strategies.

In 2024, the Office of Government Procurement launched a groundbreaking €30 million remanufactured laptop framework, awarded to Green IT and Circular Computing. Up to 60,000 devices could be procured under it, potentially reducing CO₂ emissions by 19 million kg, mined resources by 72 million kg, and water consumption by 11 billion litres.

But mainstreaming circular procurement requires new ways of working. In response, Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) is leading the Irish pilot within Circular Shift, an Interreg North West Europe project with 10 partners across five countries focused on scaling circular procurement of ICT products and workwear.

The project addresses three key barriers: limited value chain coordination, lack of internal commitment, and insufficient impact measurement tools.

In January 2027, IMR will run Ireland’s first coordinated circular ICT procurement pilot focusing on laptops and smartphones. It will be supported by a Working Group established in H2, 2026, so if you are a procurement professional in a government department, local authority or semi-state body, we want to hear from you.

The pilot is built around real needs, not a theoretical model. Participating organisations will help shape a procurement approach that could define how Ireland’s public sector buys technology for years to come.

If you are a supplier or value chain actor i.e. manufacturer, service provider, repair specialist or remanufacturer, we need your input. Procurers cannot make the shift without understanding what circular options are available, at what scale and on what terms.

To find out more, contact Irish Manufacturing Research at circularshift@imr.ie or visit www.circularshift.eu

Circular Shift is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg North West Europe Programme.