A CHG-MERIDIAN Canada Insight

What Your IT Fleet Is Really Costing You

Your organization runs on technology. But the way you buy, use, and retire that technology may be quietly draining your budget, inflating your carbon footprint, and leaving recoverable capital on the table.

Here's a data-driven look at three costs most enterprises overlook—and how to fix them.

1. The Price of Doing Nothing: Laptop Inflation Is Crushing IT Budgets

Hardware prices have climbed sharply. A laptop that once cost $1,300 now runs closer to $1,900—an added $600 per device.

Across a 5,000-unit fleet, that's not a rounding error. It's a budget crisis—adding $3,000,000 in acquisition costs alone.

The Numbers

Metric	Value
Total fleet cost at new price	$9,500,000
Total cost with CHG (3-year lifecycle)	$7,930,000
Total savings with CHG	$1,570,000
Savings per laptop	$313

2. Your Laptops Have a Carbon Problem

The Numbers

287 kg CO₂e — Full 5-year lifecycle emissions per laptop*
~80% — Share of those emissions locked in during manufacturing*
1,435 metric tonnes — Total 5-year carbon footprint of your 5,000-unit fleet

Why It Matters

Your ESG targets don't live in a slide deck—they live in your purchasing decisions. Every new laptop carries a heavy, hidden carbon debt. Choosing refurbished and leased fleets breaks that cycle without slowing your operations.

Carbon figures are based on industry benchmarks.

3. You're Sitting on Recoverable Capital

When laptops reach end-of-life, most organizations let them pile up in storage closets. Those devices aren't neutral—they're a depreciating liability.

Why It Matters

Left alone, retired laptops depreciate to $0 and then cost you money to dispose of. A structured refurbish-and-resell program turns those dead assets into $1,000,000 of recovered capital—while eliminating e-waste disposal fees.

The Numbers

Metric	Value
Trade-in value (3-year-old business laptop)	$200 per device
Recoverable fleet value	$1,000,000
E-waste disposal costs avoided ($15/device)	$75,000
Total value unlocked per device	~$215

The Bottom Line

Three problems. One root cause: treating laptops as things you buy and forget, rather than assets you manage.

Cost: Stop absorbing price inflation. Save $1,650,000 over a 3-year lifecycle.
Carbon: Address a 1,435-tonne fleet footprint and support your ESG goals.
Capital: Recover $1,000,000 locked in retired devices.

Technology lifecycle management addresses all three at once.

Ready to see your numbers?

Book a free fleet assessment with CHG-MERIDIAN Canada today and discover exactly what your laptop fleet could be saving, reducing, and recovering.