Round design illustrated by means of 4 merchandise

At Cisco, round design means constructing sustainability into our merchandise and packaging from the beginning. It’s about designing with the total life cycle in thoughts: utilizing supplies effectively, incorporating recycled content material, decreasing packaging waste, enhancing power effectivity, and making merchandise simpler to restore, improve, and recycle. 

This issues as a result of decisions made within the design stage can affect every little thing that follows — from how a lot uncooked materials is used, to how lengthy a product can keep in service, to how effectively it runs for purchasers. Round design additionally helps make one of the best use of crucial uncooked supplies and helps provide chain resiliency.  

Cisco continues significant work on this house over time whereas measuring environmental impacts at a product stage.  

Beneath are a number of examples that illustrate how completely different product groups are making use of round design in ways in which mirror their distinctive applied sciences, use instances, and constraints.

UCS-X servers 

For over a decade, Unified Computing System (UCS) servers have been engineered to be extra sustainable by design, and have been awarded the 2023 SEAL Sustainable Product Award. UCS-X displays how circularity and excessive efficiency can go hand-in-hand — particularly in knowledge middle environments the place power and materials decisions can add up rapidly. 

Constructed with modular, simply detachable elements, its upgradeable designs assist prolong using the chassis, energy provide, cooling, and different elements, and it’s optimized for restore, reuse, and eventual recycling. This structure permits the X-Sequence to devour roughly 50% much less uncooked materials over three generations than conventional rack servers. 

The newest X-Sequence structure additionally options know-how improvements comparable to environment friendly 54V energy distribution, clever fan controls, zone-based cooling, and 80 PLUS Titanium-rated energy provides. 

The workforce additionally eradicated moist paint and lowered powder coating by 62% in comparison with the prior technology — which means much less coating materials is utilized total. This reduces the quantity of uncooked supplies that must be produced, transported, and in the end managed throughout the life cycle. 

Additionally they applied post-consumer recycled (PCR) resin in 77% of non-commodity plastic elements, decreasing using virgin plastic through the use of recycled materials as a substitute. 

Packaging and equipment have been additionally thought of. Cisco gives multipack delivery for smaller items and high-volume orders to cut back packaging, and prospects can decide out of product equipment they don’t want, comparable to energy cords. Prospects obtain the product in packaging made from recycled supplies, and, like most different Cisco merchandise, can view documentation by way of QR code. 

View the Product Carbon Footprint studies for varied UCS merchandise right here. 

Webex Room Bar 

The Webex Room Bar is a video collaboration bar for small assembly rooms. It was redesigned with a simplified structure to cut back the variety of inner elements in comparison with its predecessor, leading to over 32,000 kilos of fabric financial savings yearly. It makes use of no less than 55% PCR resin. Foam was eradicated from the packaging, changed by a fiber-based, double-tray design. When linked to sure shows, the Room Bar can routinely configure the brightness and latency of the show for pure video conferencing upon set up and switch the show on and off routinely, thereby saving power. 

Desk Cellphone 9800 Sequence

The Cisco Desk Cellphone 9800 sequence focuses on repairability, recycled content material, packaging, and power consumption. 

93% of the product’s main elements might be disassembled utilizing frequent instruments, which might enhance the restore and recycling processes whereas extending materials life cycles. It makes use of no less than 74% PCR plastic resin. 

Packaging additionally minimizes waste, utilizing 100% recycled plastic luggage or fiber-based options, and eliminates pointless elements comparable to plastic luggage for cables, wipe cloths, and paper paperwork (besides the place legally required).  

Vitality consumption is one other focus, with a number of power-saving modes to satisfy completely different buyer wants. Deep sleep mode can scale back energy required to 0.3 watts, probably decreasing greenhouse gasoline (GHG) emissions by over 40% yearly throughout its use section.  

To assist prospects higher perceive and handle this, a sustainability dashboard studies real-time power consumption and GHG emissions, enabling customers to proactively handle and scale back their GHG emissions from use of the product.  

View the Desk Cellphone 9871 Lifecycle Evaluation abstract right here.  

Nexus 9332D-H2R Change 

The Cisco Nexus 9332D-H2R is a high-performance, 32-port 400 Gigabit Ethernet deep-buffer swap. Along with delivering industry-leading efficiency, the workforce included options that assist each circularity and effectivity. To assist handle power use, the swap options an 80PLUS Platinum-rated energy provide unit, and prospects can use the Nexus Dashboard to achieve insights into energy consumption.  

The swap is constructed with 75% PCR content material in non-commodity plastic elements and makes use of lightweighting strategies to cut back the quantity of fabric used. The highest cowl was purposely designed to permit prospects to simply entry and improve the reminiscence, which might prolong the product’s use. 

Emphasizing serviceability, key elements like followers and energy provide items are modular, permitting for straightforward discipline substitute.  

The packaging consists of corrugated elements with no less than 25% PCR content material and foam elements with no less than 60% PCR content material, whereas equipment use fiber-based luggage. The workforce continues to iterate these sustainability options whereas defending the product throughout cargo. 

Wanting forward 

Cisco achieved a number of sustainability targets in our 2025 fiscal yr (FY), marking vital progress in our journey. Shifting ahead, we are going to give attention to sustaining Round Design Rules in 100% of latest merchandise and packaging in FY26. 

As we proceed pursuing a extra round enterprise mannequin, we’re additionally increasing the factors of our Round Design Rules by listening to our prospects, staff, regulators, traders, and different stakeholders. We’re updating these Rules to maintain elevating our bar for integrating sustainability into our merchandise — readying Cisco for the long run. We intend to give attention to recycled plastic and supplies, eradicating hazardous supplies, enhancing packaging, and making our analysis standards extra product-specific, recognizing that Cisco’s product range means there’s no one-size-fits-all method. 

We intend to preserve the progress achieved thus far, stay accountable, and search extra alternatives to drive impression. 

As at all times, we are going to share our progress in our Objective Reporting Hub and Objective Report.  

1FY19 base yr