KPN expands cooperation with suppliers for circular operations in 2025
Agreements cover around 70% of the annual KPN expenditure on network hardware.
Eleven major KPN suppliers, including global network equipment manufacturers, are going to work with KPN to make all new KPN network and customer equipment designed to last longer, produced with fewer new raw materials and built in such a way that in 2025 close to 100% of the parts and resources can be reused or recycled. In this way, KPN’s sustainability ambitions support the Netherlands in its objective of transitioning towards a circular economy by 2050.
Manufacturers Nokia, Cisco, Dell EMC, Rittal, Arcadyan and VDL Groep, network infrastructure providers VolkerWessels Telecom and Allinq, and logistics service providers CEVA Logistics, PostNL and Coolrec have all recently signed the KPN Circular Manifesto. They supply amongst others network equipment, logistics solutions, recycling services, or services for the installation and maintenance of network infrastructure.
In October 2017, KPN and seven suppliers signed the KPN Circular Manifesto. These agreements cover around 20% of the annual KPN expenditure on network equipment and hardware for the provision of services to customers. With another eleven suppliers joining, this percentage will rise to around 70% of the expenditure. This percentage is expected to continue to grow as other suppliers of KPN agree to cooperate with KPN in the pursuit of its circular ambitions.
Maximo Ibarra, KPN CEO: “Cooperation is key to realizing our circular ambitions. We are pleased that once again important partners have taken on the challenge together with KPN to innovate in a circular manner so as to reduce the consumption of new raw materials and speed up the transition to a circular economy.”
The KPN Circular Manifesto outlines KPN’s goal of minimizing its CO2 and environmental footprint as much as possible even as the volume of data traffic is expected to continue to grow exponentially. In addition to the manifesto, KPN has signed individual agreements with each of the suppliers, outlining the focus areas of collaboration between the individual companies and KPN.
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