With less than 10 months to go before PC recycling
legislation comes into force, many businesses are still unaware of
their responsibilities regarding the disposal of old
PCs.
A poll of IT managers found that many have not heard about the
legislation and those who have are ignorant of how it could affect
them.
Only 50% of the IT managers polled by Datamonitor were aware of how
the new legislation will affect their responsibilities to recycle
IT hardware. This included the EC's Waste Electronic and Electrical
Equipment Directive, which is due to come into force in August
2005.
About 75% of IT managers believe it costs less than £50 to dispose
of a PC, and 50% said £25. Analyst firm Gartner calculated that the
cost of disposal varies between £50 and £80 per PC.
Of those polled, 45% outsource the disposal of their end-of-life IT
assets to a specialist company, with 54% of large corporations and
63% of mid-sized firms doing the same. Thirty-three per cent give
at least a portion of their equipment to charity, despite data
security risks.
Malcolm Plunkett, asset management director at Lombard GATX
Technology, which commissioned the report, said, "All our
experience working on disposal projects supports analyst assertions
of high costs for decommissioning, data erasure, secure shipment,
remarketing and recycling plus tracking and administration."
The WEEE Directive will require companies to demonstrate asset
tracking for all electronic equipment and compliance with the
directive or face fines, said Plunkett. "The penalties will need to
be stiff to make people take notice. We have been talking to
companies about WEEE since 1999 and I am amazed that so many are
not aware of it."
Datamonitor polled 150 firms from across the UK during July and
August 2004. Of the sample, 45% had 500 to 5,000 PCs.
The study found that asset management techniques are still
low-tech, with 60% of firms managing their IT assets using paper
registers or spreadsheets. Plunkett said, "Despite years of debate
about the total cost of ownership of IT assets, it was surprising
to see that few firms used asset management software tools."
WEEE Directive
The Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment Directive comes into
force in August 2005. It promotes reuse and recycling of IT
equipment, although member states set compliance details.
Firms that cannot demonstrate compliance are likely to face
financial penalties.