Telefónica, a leading telecommunications company, is making significant strides in its goal to become a Zero Waste enterprise by 2030. The company is focused on promoting the refurbishment of Customer Premise Equipment (CPE’s) and streamlining their reconditioning for reuse, in order to reduce waste.
In its efforts to promote the circular economy, Telefónica has pioneered the development of the VICKY platform. This state-of-the-art platform utilizes blockchain to enhance traceability, monitoring, and control throughout the value chain of modems, routers, and TV set-top boxes.
Over the past five years, Telefónica has successfully repurposed over 19 million routers and set-top boxes across all its operations. In 2023, the company achieved an impressive 88% collection rate for all equipment, moving closer to its 2024 target of 90%.
The innovative system not only improves collection rates but also enhances refurbishment processes, significantly extending the lifespan of the equipment. Notably, the solution has been recognized for its innovative approach in fostering a more efficient, faster, simpler, and more sustainable supply chain, as acknowledged by Gartner and Forbes.
In today’s global and complex supply chain landscape, collaboration is essential to combat challenges, particularly for telecommunications companies like Telefónica, which involve over 100 companies across three continents in their electronic equipment operations.
VICKY provides Telefónica with the ability to address these challenges by delivering equipment traceability through complete automation of the logistics process, thereby enabling suppliers to achieve greater efficiency through digitization.
As a result, the system optimizes procurement, mitigates delays, and facilitates access to crucial product information, such as manufacturing location, critical components, and pertinent details for maintenance processes or equipment refurbishment.
Extending the usable life of electronic equipment not only reduces emissions and resource consumption associated with new equipment manufacturing, but also supports environmental sustainability. In cases where equipment cannot be reused, Telefónica ensures their appropriate recycling treatment through another platform, as each piece contains materials like gold or copper that can be repurposed in the creation of new products.
Telefónica has embedded the principles of circular economy into its operational framework, focusing on minimizing resource consumption, promoting design with environmental criteria, and advocating for reuse and recycling to alleviate its environmental impact. This circularity also plays a pivotal role in avoiding indirect carbon emissions connected with the extraction of new materials for manufacturing new equipment, thereby contributing to Telefónica’s aim of achieving net-zero emissions by 2040.
Fernando Valero, the Global Director of Supply Chain and Procurement Transformation at Telefónica, stated, “We firmly believe that much of the innovation we will see in the near future will focus on process transformation, where new technologies such as blockchain, big data, and the internet of things will be key factors in contributing to the decarbonization of operations while generating environmental benefits.”
In summary, Telefónica’s groundbreaking initiative in leveraging blockchain technology to refurbish and repurpose electronic equipment demonstrates its commitment to environmental sustainability and efficient supply chain management. The successful integration of VICKY into its operations has not only strengthened its environmental credentials but has also positioned it as a leader in ushering in the circular economy within the telecommunications industry.