Sophie Mándoki is Chief Sustainability Manager at Bechtle. She advises both B2G and B2B customers on how to enhance sustainability across their IT procurement.

Let’s start at the beginning: when products are made. What does that involve?  

Sophie Mándoki: IT hardware contains a wide range of raw materials, some of which are rare and highly valuable, such as gold, silver, copper, cobalt, lithium, nickel and rare earth elements. Many of these materials are sourced from regions with challenging environmental and social standards. That’s why it’s so important for us, together with our technology partners, to focus on products using certified, responsibly sourced materials, and to prioritise devices that are durable, repairable and energy-efficient. Put simply, the longer a device is in use, the smaller its environmental footprint.  

IT products typically have long supply chains. How can those be made more sustainable? 

As the majority of IT manufacturing takes place in Asia, logistics plays a central role. One effective approach, for example, is to prioritise sea freight over air freight. While this takes longer, it results in significantly lower emissions. We also work closely with our manufacturing partners, who can reduce overall transport volumes through optimised route planning and improved container utilisation. Another important lever is working with logistics providers that already use climate-friendly solutions, such as alternative fuels or electric trucks.  

Once the products arrive here in Germany, they either go straight to customers or into a warehouse. What happens next? 

Once the products are in the country, this is where Bechtle’s influence becomes most direct and hands-on through our own sustainable logistics. One example is that we use particularly eco-friendly packaging materials. An important component of our setup is the Bechtle Box, which replaces conventional single-use cardboard packaging and can be reused up to 50 times. This helps reduce waste, packaging material and carbon emissions. The box itself is robust and fully recyclable. Beyond packaging, our logistics teams are continuously working to improve the supply chain. This includes consolidating orders to ship fewer individual parcels. We also focus on keeping distances short: we operate logistics centres at the Port of Hamburg, where the goods arrive, as well as in the European countries where we supply our customers. 

Even the most careful procurement still results in emissions. Can these actually be measured? 

Using the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF), Bechtle can calculate the emissions associated with almost all products sourced through us, using AI‑supported models. This covers the entire lifecycle—from raw material extraction and manufacturing through distribution and storage, right through to actual use and eventual recycling or disposal. For the small number of remaining items, such as cables, we use standard reference values. We provide our customers with detailed reports based on these calculations, giving them a solid foundation for informed procurement decisions.  

What do you do with the emissions that ultimately remain? 

Even though many emissions can be reduced, they can’t be avoided entirely. That’s why carbon offsetting will increasingly become a core element of many companies’ climate strategies. With Bechtle CO₂‑Conscious IT, we work with our partners to offer customers the option of offsetting remaining emissions, based on our calculations, through a range of climate action projects. At the same time, there are numerous opportunities to make more sustainable choices across the entire logistics chain in particular, from start to finish. We support our customers in identifying those opportunities and applying them in a targeted and effective way.