Avoided Emissions Certificates
Verified Documentation of the Emissions Benefits Created by Refurbishing and Reusing IT Assets
Turning Circular IT Impact Into Verifiable Environmental Claims
Refurbishing and reusing IT assets leads to measurable emissions benefits. Every device that is kept in use avoids the manufacturing, logistics, and disposal impacts associated with buying something new.
Many organisations already report these avoided emissions as part of their circularity or ESG narratives — but few can substantiate them with evidence that meets assurance and audit standards.
Avoided Emissions Certificates change that.
These certificates convert the environmental benefits of a real refurbishment or reuse activity into verifiable documentation, enabling organisations to:
● Make accurate, defensible environmental claims
● Demonstrate circularity achievements with evidence rather than estimates
● Stand up to stakeholder scrutiny, assurance, and internal audit
● Align internal IT, procurement, and sustainability teams on measurable impact
Avoided Emissions Certificates bring trust, traceability, and structure to a form of impact that until now has often been informal, inconsistent, or unverified.
Why Avoided Emissions Matter
Circular IT extends product life, reduces the need for manufacturing new equipment, and prevents devices from entering the waste stream. The resulting environmental benefits include:
Lower greenhouse gas emissions
Reduced raw material extraction
Less water and energy used in production
Decreased hazardous waste
These benefits exist whether a company measures them or not — but without a standardised and verifiable certificate, they are often under-recognised, unreported, or untrusted.
Avoided Emissions Certificates give organisations the ability to capture, quantify, and claim the real climate benefits of refurbishment.
What an Avoided Emissions Certificate Represents
Each certificate corresponds to a specific, verified refurbishment activity, and includes:
● A defined asset batch (device types, counts, and specifications)
● Emissions baselines and functional-unit assumptions
● Quantified avoided emissions
● Verification details (third-party audit trail)
● A unique registry record and claim right
Rather than simply presenting impact data, the certificate provides a formalised evidence package that can be referenced, shared, and assured.
Moving Beyond Reporting: Why a Certificate Is Needed
Traditional impact reporting—spreadsheets, summaries, or internal estimates—faces several challenges:
Lack of standardisation
Different organisations calculate avoided emissions differently, leading to inconsistent numbers.
No exclusive claim right
Without a certificate, impact can be double-counted or claimed by multiple parties, degrading credibility.
Hard to audit
Reports without a clear issuance framework, baselines, or verification cannot be easily reviewed or assured.
Static PDFs aren’t traceable
Stakeholders increasingly expect registry-backed evidence, not informal data summaries.
Avoided Emissions Certificates solve these problems by introducing structured issuance, verification, and traceability, making avoided emissions claims as robust as any other environmental disclosure.
Aligned With SBTi’s Emphasis on Claim Integrity
As SBTi strengthens its framework for environmental claims, it emphasises:
● Transparent attribution
● Exclusive ownership of claims
● Clearly defined environmental attributes
● Registry-based tracking
● Avoidance of double-counting
● Evidence-based disclosure
Avoided Emissions Certificates follow these principles by providing:
● A single claim holder per refurbishment activity
● Independently verified impact calculations
● A permissioned registry entry
● A retirement mechanism that finalises the claim
This ensures that avoided emissions claims are trustworthy, defensible, and aligned with emerging best practices.
How Avoided Emissions Certificates Are Created
Real Circular IT Activity
IT assets are refurbished, redeployed, and kept in productive use instead of being replaced.
Impact Calculation
Bloom applies an ISO-aligned method to quantify the emissions avoided relative to new manufacturing.
Third-Party Verification
Independent auditors review the methodology, data, and calculations.
Certificate Issuance
A unique Avoided Emissions Certificate is created, including all supporting documentation.
Registry Recording
The certificate is added to the Bloom Registry to ensure transparency and prevent double-claims.
How Organisations Use Avoided Emissions Certificates
Avoided Emissions Certificates help enterprises:
Validate the climate impact of internal IT asset lifecycle programs
Support sustainability disclosures with verified evidence
Demonstrate progress to customers, regulators, and investors
Communicate circularity achievements with confidence
Build internal accountability for IT and procurement practices
They are especially valuable for organisations pursuing circularity commitments, device-as-a-service models, or device take-back programs to promote extended life
A Trusted Foundation for Circularity Claims
Avoided Emissions Certificates empower organisations to move from:
“We believe our program reduces impact”
to
“Here is the verified, auditable evidence of impact.”
They turn refurbishment activity into a recognised, claim-ready environmental asset, helping enterprises demonstrate real progress toward lower-emissions, circular IT systems.
Next Steps
See how avoided emissions certificates can support your circular IT and sustainability strategy.