Have you ever thought about what happens to your old work laptop when it breaks, or when you get an upgrade?
From discarded phones and computers, to outdated televisions, electronic waste is piling up at an alarming rate. This waste often ends up in landfills, polluting land and water, as well as putting waste disposal workers at risk from harmful substances.
At M Group Services, we are committed to reducing our carbon footprint, which involves us reflecting on how we work as a Group to protect and preserve our planet. One core strategy that we have in place is our IT recycling scheme.
In partnership with Storm Technologies our scheme runs Group-wide and has seen us recycle over 4,966 IT items since March 2020. From the moment a user requests the collection of an unwanted IT item on our IT portal they have taken the first step towards IT recycling. Once collected, these items are taken to Storm HQ where they go through the process of testing, cleaning, grading, wiping and re-imagining. If able to be refurbished, devices are stored by Storm and sent back to us as a reusable device when we need it, so we can provide refurbished devices in lieu of new.
Extending a machine’s life and not relying on new saves large amounts of C02, from the process of manufacture all the way through to transport and packaging.
If a laptop or desktop can no longer be used within our business, Storm works with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), who disassemble a large percentage of the equipment to allow identification of reusable elements. Useable items are wiped and then passed on to companies or organisations who can use them to upgrade existing assets.
Speaking on our efforts to reduce e-waste, Thomas Hedges, Group Commercial Asset Manager, said: “Our work with Storm Technologies and HPE has enabled us to not only reissue IT assets in a timelier manner but extend the life of equipment and component parts. We continue to work with our suppliers and internal business partners to ensure we are always looking to improve processes and systems to reduce our carbon footprint. Recognising IT plays a big part in this, we pride ourselves on taking responsibility for reduction of e-waste.”
In future, by taking part in this recycling strategy, we will be able to access data confirming the amount of CO2e saved and Megawatt Hour (Mwh) energy saved. Our partnership with Storm also ensures we comply with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2013, which set out how individuals and businesses can reduce the amount of WEEE that goes to landfill.
Ensuring we have an IT recycling strategy in place helps towards our commitment to decarbonise our processes, meeting our goal to halve our operational carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050.
