CFIT Framework
CFIT Framework for Circular and Fair ICT Procurement
A CFIT working group has outlined what Circular and Fair Procurement of ICT means to its participants. Besides defining ambitions around four core themes, the working group also discussed key strategies for procuring organizations to work towards these ambitions. The strategies are:
- Buy less, Buy better, Use better, Use longer.
For each strategy, commitments have been formulated, which CFIT participants will consider as part of their procurement strategies. Usually there are more ways to implement these commitments. To provide inspiration, we will add examples of how procuring organizations shaped implementation. Do you have a good example we could feature here? Contact us!
Download CFIT Framework
Examples that illustrate how organizations can implement the CFIT Framework
*NEW* Buy less, Use better & longer: Combining private and work use and promoting behaviour for care and ownership
This inspiring case introduces examples on how to nudge employees to use products better and longer. Eg.: replacement policies taking away incentives resulting in early replacement, or the the possibility for employees to select a more advanced phone taking away incentives to buy a second personal device.
Buy less: Avoiding unnecessary accessories
Circular procurement starts with only buying what you really need. This example illustrates how the Swiss government avoids the supply of unnecessary accessories in their 2021 tender for the procurement of monitors.
Buy better: Driving carbon emission reduction
In this example you can read how the Central Dutch Government is driving CO2-emission reduction accross scope 1-3 emissions, through their tender and related contract management for workplace equipment in 2021.
CFIT procurement cycle
Buy better: Promoting due diligence compliance in tender for small ICT hardware
The Flanders Agency for Facilities Operations, explains how they incorporate social and ethical responsibility in a 2022 tender. The approach of the Agency includes collaboration with Electronics Watch, supporting the procuring organization particularly during the contract management.
*NEW* Buy better: We reduce our dependency on virgin and scarce materials
This example of the Swiss government demonstrates how they were able to reward higher content of recycled plastics in the computer monitors they purchased. The reference to certification, made it very straightforward to assesss compliance with these criteria.
*NEW* Use better: We use our ICT more efficiently
This example of the Municipality of Amsterdam demonstrates how they recently started encouraging employees to clean-up data in order to reduce the climate footprint of ICT use.
Use longer: Promoting reparability when purchasing and using smartphones
The county Viken in Norway have incorporated various elements in their 2021 tender to enhance reparability of smartphones in view of life time extension.
*NEW* Use longer: When we dispose of products, we do so via the appropriate route allowing for recycling
When we aim for circularity in ICT, CFIT participants are of the opinion that using products longer is key. This also means that we need to take responsibility of what happens with our products after we dispose of them. This example of the Norwegian DFO is a great example of how they are addressing this through a framework contract that was concluded in 2023.
*NEW* Use longer: Implementing circularity in IT policies and results monitoring
Learn from this example how the UK Government developed, implements and monitors its Greening the Government ICT Strategy. It inlcudes for example ambitions on "zero to landfill", increasing re-use and recycling as well as buying remanufactured ICT devices and traceability of ICT at end of life!
This example will be added soon