Digital infrastructure company Colt Technology Services has announced two new sustainability programs to support its Net Zero goals.
Colts invests in biochar carbon capture
In the first program, Colt will partner with the carbon removal company Supercritical to invest in carbon removal initiatives. The company said its customers will be able to count a share of these carbon removal credit purchases towards their carbon removal climate targets.
The program uses biochar - an organic substance that stores carbon while improving soil condition. The substance lasts over 1,000 years and is endorsed by global governing bodies, according to Colt.
Supercritical is a carbon removal platform, headquartered in London.
Google announced it would invest $35 million into carbon capture projects earlier this year. Microsoft has also been a major investor in carbon capture and removal as it seeks to become carbon neutral and offset historical emissions.
Colt recycles hardware
The second program sees the company partner with Swedish-based Urban Miners to extract precious metals from unused equipment.
Colt said in a recent pilot program in Sweden, 99.4 percent of its equipment was either recyclable or reusable, amounting to 8.7 metric tons in weight and enabling 19 tons of CO2 savings.
The pilot will now be extended to extract precious metals from its hardware in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK.
Caroline Griffith Pain, chief legal officer at Colt, said: “Our research has shown us that understanding and reducing the impact of digital infrastructure on the environment are critical priorities for global IT leaders. At Colt, we have an opportunity and a responsibility to influence these goals: to take action and drive lasting change.”
She added: “Partnering with these two exciting and groundbreaking companies, Urban Miners and Supercritical, will help Colt and our customers to drive real progress on our journeys to Net Zero.”
Gustaf Dyrssen, owner of Urban Miners, said: “Urban Miners is working with Colt to recover legacy equipment across Europe. In most recent Nodes, we reached 100 percent recovery rate and now pursue further optimizing of transport and material blends.”
Founded in 2021, Urban Miners is a metals recycling company, specializing in the dismantling and processing of materials for minimum energy use.
London-based Colt currently owns digital infrastructure connecting 32,000 buildings across 230 cities, more than 50 metropolitan area networks, and more than 230 PoPs across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and North America’s largest business hubs.
At the beginning of 2023, Colt completed the deployment of a new dark fiber cable along the Channel Tunnel, connecting London to Paris. Colt acquired Lumen’s EMEA business for $1.8 billion at the end of last year.
