Amazon has expanded its European reverse logistics programme through re:Cycle Reverse Logistics, which operates facilities in Dublin that test and repair equipment from AWS data centres. The facilities extend the life of data centre hardware and other electronics so they can be reused. This circular economy initiative supports our path to reach net-zero carbon by ensuring fewer new components need to be produced, saving raw materials and energy. While the operation is predominantly focused on reuse, where waste is generated, zero waste goes to landfill; instead, it is sent for high-end recycling.
Inside the re:Cycle Reverse Logistics facilities
Amazon Web Services (AWS) operates some of the most advanced servers in the world to run its cloud services, but eventually, like all hardware, they must be replaced. When it’s time for AWS server racks to be decommissioned, all customer data is removed through a secure and thorough sanitation process.
At the facilities, specialised trolleys are powered by robots which move up to two tons of equipment around the facility, while bespoke machines and processes are leveraged to enable the reuse of used equipment and components and the recovery of precious metals, like gold and silver, found in circuit boards and computer components.
It's through these cutting-edge operations and robust reuse programmes that the re:Cycle Reverse Logistics facilities can give a second life to hardware like computer processer chips, RAM, and network cards. The reuse and recovery of high value materials and components is a core part of the AWS reverse logistics programme, and these facilities support AWS’s data centre operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Reducing carbon and creating jobs
The re:Cycle Reverse Logistics facilities in Dublin, together with AWS's manufacturing sites where servers are assembled, have created over 850 jobs in Ireland so far, employing individuals from all backgrounds - from engineers to those fresh out of high school. The tech industry has always been an important part of the Irish economy, and reducing carbon is a priority for the country, which plans to halve emissions by 2030.
Leader of the Green Party and Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O'Gorman, officially opened the new re:Cycle Reverse Logistics building and toured the site to meet employees and see first-hand the innovations that make this one of the most advanced facilities of its type in the world.
“Circular economy projects are increasingly important to help us build a more sustainable economy. We need to work together to ensure that products, whatever their shape or form, are kept in use for as long as possible through smart design, repair and reuse. It’s great to see this approach being put into practice at the Amazon facility in Ballycoolin in North Dublin,” said Minster O’Gorman. “What impressed me most are the skills and dedication of the hundreds of people who work at this site in Dublin and how they are making the circular economy a reality. Projects like this help to both reinforce Ireland’s global reputation as a sustainability leader and to achieve climate goals such as halving our emissions by 2030.”
Closing the loop with a circular economy
AWS has three ways to ensure the circular economy is woven into the lifecycle of all the equipment used in its data centres: designing reusable and lower carbon rack systems from the outset; keeping equipment operating efficiently; and recovering value from securely decommissioned equipment.
It's in recovering value that specialised reverse logistics vendors, like re:Cycle Reverse Logistics, play the biggest role by helping to consolidate, test, repair, and recirculate functional equipment back into AWS’s inventory or to third parties to be sold for reuse. AWS's reverse logistics partners enable it to optimise component reuse across its data centres, taking decommissioned equipment from one facility and redeploying it to serve demand elsewhere. Reuse within AWS data centres is prioritised before selling to third parties. If equipment cannot be reused by AWS or sold on the second-hand market, then precious metals and critical raw materials are recovered and sent for high-end recycling.
As a direct result of AWS’s reverse logistics programme in 2023, 14.6 million hardware components globally were diverted from landfills by being recycled or sold into the second-hand market for reuse. re:Cycle Reverse Logistics facilities in Ireland are the first to open outside the U.S., and these facilities will continue to be an important part of how AWS manages its data centre infrastructure and achieves its circular economy objectives.
