Case

Kolding Municipality cuts environmental impact with sustainable IT upgrades and Cisco’s Take Back program

Kolding Municipality upgraded its IT infrastructure with Conscia and Cisco’s Take Back Program, enhancing network reliability and recycling 99.9% of materials.

Kolding Municipality in Denmark actively reduces its environmental and CO² footprint, focusing on the IT department.

Today, the Internet is one of the municipality’s most business-critical aspects. It supports everything from daycare services and nursing to waste management, all of which have a digital component. Recognizing this, the municipality invested in upgrading its IT infrastructure to ensure reliability and sustainability.

Seven to eight years ago, Kolding Municipality purchased 2,000 access points for network coverage across various locations. They opted for higher-quality solutions to ensure a longer lifespan and reliability. Now, they are replacing all 2,000 access points and recycling them through the Cisco Take Back Program, where 99.9% of the materials are recycled, and the remainder is responsibly disposed of by Cisco. This aligns with the municipality’s sustainability strategy, which emphasizes minimizing waste and maximizing resource efficiency.

Conscia played a crucial role in this project by assisting with the design, selection of new equipment, and migration to a new IT environment. One of the municipality’s priorities was reducing packaging waste, so Conscia coordinated with the supplier to deliver the access points in sets of 10 per package instead of individually. This approach significantly reduced the amount of packaging material used.

The municipality’s IT manager, Chris Nørregaard, highlights the importance of ensuring minimal disruption to users during the upgrade process. The plan was meticulously executed so that users would notice as little as possible during the transition. Additionally, by reusing existing brackets, the municipality minimized environmental impact and avoided the additional cost and waste associated with new fittings.

This comprehensive approach shows Kolding Municipality’s commitment to sustainability, ensuring resources are used efficiently and responsibly. With help from Conscia and the Cisco Take Back Program, the project not only improved the reliability and quality of the IT infrastructure but also supported their goal of reducing their environmental footprint.