For most businesses, IT equipment doesn't show up as an obvious source of carbon emissions - the office isn't a factory, and laptops don't have a chimney. But under Scope 3 emissions - the indirect emissions embedded in everything a company buys, uses, and eventually disposes of - a fleet of company laptops and phones represents a real and controllable number.
Where the emissions actually sit
As with individual devices, the manufacturing phase accounts for the large majority of a laptop's total carbon footprint - not the years spent switched on at a desk. That means the emissions impact of a company's IT fleet is set largely by how often devices are replaced, not how efficiently they're used.
The hidden cost of routine refresh cycles
Many businesses replace laptops on a fixed 3-year cycle, regardless of condition, as a matter of policy rather than necessity. A device retired for a single fixable fault - a battery, a keyboard, a charging port - generates the same manufacturing emissions as one that's genuinely worn out, simply because it was replaced on schedule instead of assessed on merit.
What a repair-first policy changes
Extending an average fleet refresh cycle by even a single year, or introducing a repair-first step before any device is written off, meaningfully reduces the number of new devices procured - and with it, the Scope 3 emissions tied to purchasing. It also reduces IT capital spend, which makes the case straightforward for both sustainability and finance teams.
Reporting the difference
For businesses reporting under frameworks like the UK's SECR or the EU's CSRD, a documented repair-first IT policy is a concrete, auditable action - not just a stated ambition - that supports both carbon reduction targets and circular economy commitments.
Where Repatch fits in
Repatch already collects devices from workplaces as standard - the same courier-collect, technician-repair, and return process that works for one broken phone scales cleanly to a defective device from a company fleet, giving IT teams a fast, low-effort way to make repair the default rather than the exception.
