How Cisco Harnesses Circular Design for Sustainable Products

Cisco has successfully integrated circular design principles into 100% of its new products and packaging, fulfilling an ambitious sustainability goal for the 2025 fiscal year. This milestone, led by Chief Sustainability Officer Mary de Wysocki, reflects six years of dedicated effort to embed circularity—the model aimed at eliminating waste by keeping materials in continuous use—into the company’s product lifecycle.

Understanding Circularity at Cisco

Circularity contrasts with the traditional linear production model ("take-make-dispose") by emphasizing reuse, repair, refurbishment, and recycling. Cisco’s circular approach not only reduces waste but extends product life, enhances efficiency and security, and delivers positive impact to customers and communities.

Mary de Wysocki highlighted, “By designing with circularity in mind, we are not only reducing waste; we are extending product life, improving efficiency and security, and creating meaningful progress for our customers and communities.”

Governance and Evaluation Tools

To operationalize circular design, Cisco created a web-based Circular Design Evaluation Tool. This system assesses new products and packaging against 25 Circular Design Principles. Products must achieve at least a 75% score to be approved, ensuring consistent adherence.

Cisco also instituted governance structures comprising steering and audit committees to oversee program integrity, providing a replicable model for other technology and manufacturing firms pursuing large-scale sustainability initiatives.

Environmental and Financial Impacts

Practical results underscore Cisco’s circular design success:

• Webex Room Bar Packaging: Foam eliminated and replaced with 55% recycled plastic, saving over 14,515 kg (32,000 lbs) of material annually.
• Catalyst 9000 Product Line: Removal of oil-based paint saved approximately US$9 million between 2020 and 2025, cut 318 metric tonnes of volatile organic compounds, and reduced 3,400 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Such measures demonstrate how circular design yields significant environmental benefits alongside cost savings.

Data Infrastructure and Future Outlook

Cisco supports its sustainability efforts with a Sustainability Data Foundation—a platform consolidating data on circular design metrics, product carbon footprints, and efficiency gains. According to Mary de Wysocki, circular design is also critical for future digital infrastructure needs, including AI, by optimizing raw material use.

Despite reaching its integration target, Cisco commits to ongoing evolution of its Circular Design Principles. The company hosts teardown events involving engineers, marketers, and supply chain partners to identify further areas for innovation in sustainable product design, packaging, sourcing, and repairability.

Recognition and Industry Significance

Cisco’s achievement earned a 2025 Reuters Global Sustainability Award for Circularity, underscoring leadership in corporate sustainability. The structured, transparent approach combining innovation, training (7,000+ employees trained), evaluation, governance, and reporting sets a high standard for manufacturers worldwide.

Sources:

• Manufacturing Digital, “How Cisco Harnesses Circular Design for Sustainable Products,” Georgia Collins, October 27, 2025
• Cisco 2025 Purpose Report and Public Sustainability Data Hub
• Reuters Global Sustainability Awards 2025

Cisco’s circular design strategy exemplifies how technology firms can integrate sustainability deeply into product development—delivering measurable environmental benefits and commercial value while paving the way for more resilient, efficient manufacturing ecosystems.

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