Giulio Cartoni, Head of Site Management & Field Support, and Luigi Pierno, Climate and Environment Strategy & Projects and certified Sustainability Manager, are a highly synergistic duo who have brought to life OnLife, Leonardo’s project designed to give corporate PCs and monitors a new purpose. Through a structured process of reuse, donation and material recovery, the initiative applies circular-economy principles to end-of-life digital devices. Giulio and Luigi form a team born from close cooperation between Leonardo’s Sustainability and Digital Solutions departments. They have successfully tackled a new project: transforming the management of end-of-life devices into a process that combines resilience, social impact and a reduced environmental footprint.
“It was an exciting challenge. There was no existing model within the company, so we created new procedures and strengthened our collaborative network,” explains Giulio Cartoni, who holds a Master’s degree in Political Science and International Relations and joined Leonardo eight years ago after holding senior positions in the TLC and IT sectors.
“Driving this project has been a great adventure, allowing me to work simultaneously on all three pillars of sustainability – Prosperity, People and Planet – and to contribute concretely to the circular transition,” adds Luigi Pierno, an electronic engineer who has been with the Leonardo Group since 2000, working for many years in research and innovation.
Giulio and Luigi give concrete form to the three pillars of the OnLife project. The first line of action focuses on reusing digital devices within the secondary market (Prosperity): in this initial phase, 275 PCs and monitors were collected, securely wiped and made available through online sales channels at an accessible price point. The second area (People) promotes digital inclusion: part of the decommissioned equipment is donated to non-profit organisations operating in areas with limited digital access, supporting technology uptake and promote interest in STEM subjects among the new generation. Finally, the third pillar (Planet) adopts an urban-mining approach, activating advanced recycling processes for non-reusable devices to recover critical raw materials.
Delivering a circular-economy project that generates measurable competitive value for business, society and the environment reflects Leonardo’s long-term strategic commitment to sustainability. For Giulio and Luigi, the success of OnLife represents both a professional and personal milestone, achieved together with a strong sense of purpose and great satisfaction.