Businesses can either recycle or refurbish old IT.
Refurbishing allows organisations to sell their IT on to a third
party, which can often cover the refurbishment costs.
"Equipment up to four years old can be refurbished and sold at a
profit after costs are deducted, so organisations should make money
from remarketing used IT," says Gary Griffiths, head of
sustainability at IT refurbisher RDC.
Creating a market in refurbished computers means resources are
not consumed in making new ones. The manufacturing stage is when
technology produces most of its carbon footprint - more than when
it is being used. Reducing the number of units that need to be
manufactured is beneficial for the environment.
How to refurbish IT
- Use electrical safety testing to make sure the computer is safe
to use
- Data eradication - avoid embarrassing leaks and costly
remediation by using data eradication tools approved by
CESG
- Functionally test the item - does it work as the manufacturer
originally intended?
- Check that new software loaded is properly licensed to avoid
software piracy
- Remove all former user ID marks and labels
- Check the refurbishment organisation you are working with has
independently certified standards such as ISO 14001 and ISO
9001.
- Visit the refurbisher's site to make sure it can do what it
says it does, because several are being investigated by the
Environment Agency for the illegal export of waste under the guise
of being for reuse.
How to recycle IT
If IT equipment has reached the end of its useful life, it needs
to be properly recycled. This is what is involved:
- Anyone involved in recycling should have a licence or permit.
You can check that recyclers hold the required licences on the
Environment
Agency public registers site.
- Under Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations, in
the UK recyclers should be either an ATF (approved treatment
facility), an AATF (authorised approved treatment facility), or AE
(approved exporter). If companies do not have such permits, look
elsewhere.
- Waste producing organisations have a duty of care under UK
environment legislation to ask for proof of what happens to the
computers after disposal. So recyclers have a legal requirement to
ensure you are satisfied that your waste is handled and disposed of
properly.
- Check what happens to hazardous waste. CRTs, lead acid and
nickel cadmium batteries are classified as hazardous and need
consignment notes for each load.
- Make sure none of your waste is
exported to developing countries. People who do so are putting
developing countries at risk, denying UK and European recyclers of
the materials they need, and risking prosecution under
environmental legislation.
How the government is greening IT
The Home Office has set up a cross-functional team to examine
use of IT. It has delivered a saving of more than £2.4m in 2008-09
by identifying and removing unused IT hardware and telephones,
renegotiating with suppliers, and tracking down unused laptops and
software.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has
replaced previous mixed PC desktop devices with a corporate laptop
device and a common desktop suite of software, equipped with Wi-Fi
communications. These laptops provide a power saving of 60% over
the old desktops. For 4,500 staff, this is the equivalent to 160
tonnes of CO2 emissions saved per annum, and saves the department
£40,000 on its power bills.
The Department for Communities and Local Government is replacing
its telephony service for 2,500 users across three locations. At
the heart of the system are new handsets and switches that are
among the most energy-efficient available. They provide a power
saving of 60% over the existing equipment. Once deployment is
complete, this will translate into a saving of £21,000 on power
bills and more than 100 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.
HM Revenue & Customs is introducing Wake On Lan to more than
75,000 PCs. This Ethernet network standard enables PCs to be put
into low-power mode overnight, at weekends and at other times when
they are not in use via the local area network. It is expected to
reduce HMRC's CO2 emissions by 12,000 tonnes a year, and save £2m
per annum in energy costs.