ESG in Recycly: CO₂e avoided, counted automatically

Every laptop you resell and every kilo of metal you recycle avoids emissions somewhere else: a new device that does not have to be manufactured, virgin material that does not have to be mined and refined. Recycly now measures that contribution for you, automatically, item by item.

This article walks through how it works today - switching it on, setting your factors, and where the figures appear - and finishes with what is coming next in Q3 2026.

1. Switch it on (or simply leave it on)

ESG calculations arrive switched on. Your administrator can manage this under Settings > Inbound > ESG with the Enable ESG calculations toggle. While it is off, nothing ESG-related appears anywhere and nothing is calculated.

2. Your ESG factors

The numbers behind every figure live in an ESG Factor Set: for each asset type, the kg of CO₂e avoided per unit re-used and per kg recycled. Administrators manage them under Inbound > Configuration > ESG > ESG Factors.

Recycly ships with Recycly Defaults v1 (2026): conservative values drawn from published sources (EPA WARM, ADEME and industry averages) covering common IT asset types and scrap materials, plus a fallback line that catches any asset type without its own entry. Review them and adjust to your own methodology - every change is recorded in the set's log.

Only one set is active at a time. When your methodology changes, Duplicate the set, adjust the copy and activate it - figures already calculated always keep the factor set they were calculated with, so your history never quietly changes.

3. Items count their CO₂e the moment processing completes

When an item's Processing Status is set to Completed, Recycly checks its Intended Final Action:

• Re-use outcomes (repair, resell, donate) score the factor per unit x quantity
• Recycle outcomes score the factor per kg x weight

The result is stamped onto the item's ESG tab along with the basis, the factor set used and whether the weight was actual or estimated. Stamped means stamped: the figure does not change when factors change later.

Donations count too - the Donate / Charity action type is treated as re-use, so charitable placements earn their avoided emissions like any resale.

4. Job totals on the Inbound Order

Each job's ESG tab totals its items: CO₂e avoided split by re-use and recycle, and unit counts by outcome. The unit counts follow each item's Intended Final Action immediately, so you can see where a job is heading before processing finishes; the CO₂e figures build as items complete.

5. See it across your stock

The Items & Lots list has four optional ESG columns - CO₂e Avoided (kg), ESG Basis, ESG Factor Set and ESG Weight Source - just after Final Item Grade. They are hidden until you show them from the column picker, and the CO₂e column totals whatever you have filtered.

6. Recalculating (administrators)

Figures never change silently, but sometimes you want them to change deliberately - after correcting a factor, or to backfill items that completed before ESG was enabled. Administrators will find Recalculate ESG figures in the Actions menu on both items and jobs. Every recalculation writes the old and new values to the record's log, so there is always an audit trail.

A note on the numbers

These figures are estimates of avoided emissions: the emissions that did not happen because a device was re-used or a material recycled instead of made from scratch. They are kept separate from any greenhouse gas inventory and must not be presented as carbon offsets. The default factors are deliberately conservative - if you report formally, review them with your own methodology or advisor first.

Coming in Q3 2026

This release is the foundation. Through Q3 2026 we plan to build on it with:

• Back-office ESG reporting - totals by customer, period and asset type, with drill-down to the underlying items
• Environmental Impact Report - a customer-facing document for a single job or a whole period, ready to send
• Customer portal ESG dashboard - your customers see the impact of their programme at a glance
• "Your Effect on Planet" - showing buyers the CO₂e avoided by shopping refurbished on your eCommerce store

Beyond that, we are working on social impact tracking for donated equipment, materials recovered and critical minerals reporting, and deeper carbon accounting through a specialist partner. Plans and timings may change as we go - watch this space.