Finnish law firm opts for carbon-neutral leasing
Sustainable business is the common goal
Borenius is one of the leading law firms in Finland and offers advice in all areas of business law. A key pillar underpinning the firm’s success is cutting-edge IT infrastructure that operates sustainably and without interruption. This was one of the reasons why Borenius switched to CHG-MERIDIAN.
The Borenius team at the Helsinki office comprises 120 lawyers, while a global network provides legal support for their clients’ international business activities. Borenius regularly invests in the latest IT equipment in order to ensure it is able to provide the best possible service, and devices are replaced in short cycles to avoid obsolescence. The firm’s sustainability strategy requires that procurement and disposal are as environmentally friendly as possible. The end-to-end lifecycle management provided by CHG-MERIDIAN is exactly what Borenius expects during each phase of an asset’s use, from initial advice on sustainable procurement all the way to data erasure prior to the remarketing of decommissioned assets.
A focus on the environmental footprint
The firm is also a member of the World Wide Fund For Nature’s Green Office Network, and committed to conserving resources wherever possible. The fact that CHG-MERIDIAN offers carbon-neutral leasing of IT equipment via its carbonZER0 product ties in perfectly with the law firm’s values. “We believe that offsetting our CO₂ emissions will allow us to actively contribute to climate change mitigation,” says Casper Herler, Managing Partner at Borenius. To achieve carbon-neutral leasing, CHG-MERIDIAN works with an independent partner to determine the volume of emissions of different asset classes, such as PCs, tablets, and smartphones. The CO2 emissions during production and transportation and as a result of electricity generation during the use and end-of-life phases are translated into monetary amounts and added to the lease installment.
The offset payments made through carbon-neutral leasing go toward four projects that are helping to protect the climate in different ways: solar power (Namibia), wind energy (Indonesia), rainforest conservation (Peru), and hydroelectric power (Sri Lanka). “We receive written proof of the greenhouse gases saved, which allows us to transparently demonstrate our positive contribution to climate action at any time. A major advantage is that we get everything from a single source through CHG-MERIDIAN, and that processing the offsetting payments doesn’t create any additional work for us,” says Pontus Ingman, CIO at Borenius. Both the certificates and the information on which assets are carbon-neutral can be viewed digitally in TESMA®, the technology and service management system from CHG-MERIDIAN. CHG-MERIDIAN currently manages 1,400 active assets, including laptops, monitors, mobile phones and AV equipment.
A new life for used equipment
“We wanted to ensure that used equipment was either refurbished for further use or sent for professional, certified recycling,” says Pontus Ingman of the firm’s objectives. “CHG-MERIDIAN is able to provide all the services we need, in line with our values and with a flexible working relationship with our IT team.” The process involves CHG-MERIDIAN taking back the equipment at the end of the lease term and giving it a second lifecycle. The assets are sustainably refurbished at its own technology center and then remarketed. This is an integral element of CHG-MERIDIAN’s circular economy concept, which provides the perfect answer to Borenius’ search for sustainable IT management.
Refurbishment includes certified data erasure, a process that makes remarketing assets possible in the first place. Pontus Ingman: “For us as a law firm, a key factor was that CHG-MERIDIAN was able to guarantee the security of the data on the decommissioned equipment at all times. In fact, we wouldn’t have been able to work together if we weren’t totally convinced by the data erasure process.” Because legal services almost exclusively involve sensitive data that must not fall into the hands of third parties, Borenius has its own data erasure process, which is now complemented by CHG-MERIDIAN’s service.
The no. 1 for customer focus
Borenius was named Nordic Law Firm of the Year at The Lawyer European Awards in early 2019, and Finnish Law Firm of the Year at the IFLR Europe Awards in 2021. This is proof of the high standards that the lawyers set for their own work. Accordingly, it is important to the firm that business partners have a similar understanding of service quality and customer focus. What Borenius appreciates most about CHG-MERIDIAN is its innovative strength, which is the driving force behind products such as carbon-neutral leasing and the concept of the circular economy. “We share the same values as CHG-MERIDIAN regarding sustainable business and customer-focused service. Thanks to the carbon-neutral leasing and lifecycle management of our IT, we have taken an important step toward greater resource efficiency and environmental protection,” is how Managing Partner Casper Herler sums it up.
