The global IT industry is responsible for 4% of global emissions and on track to double by 2025. The OCP community is doing a great job driving advances in operational energy efficiency. But this is only part of the puzzle, one third of the puzzle in fact. To truly assess and address the environmental impact of data center equipment, it is imperative to include both pre-use (embodied) and post-EOL costs of the massive scaling of our collective infrastructure. In this session we will explore the true total cost of equipment, and the opportunity represented by circular data centers to redefine lifetimes, and maximize both financial value and sustainability. Operationalizing circular data centers means enabling a global, circular IT hardware industry, and to do so catalyzes both financial and environmental opportunity, and democratized access to growth. We’ll talk about what this entails, what’s happening now, and what is at stake.