Is IT Reuse part of your Corporate Social Responsibility Policy?
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The importance of Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate Social Responsibility concerns the self-regulation of organisations and businesses to contribute to societal goals. In short, CSR makes sure an organisation is conducting ethically orientated practices for the benefit of society.
Unfortunately, a study conducted in April this year by Blancco showed many businesses ‘overlooking the e-waste problem’ in their practices. These businesses are missing opportunities to reduce their carbon footprint, save money, and do their bit for the environment.
Why reuse should be part of your CSR Policy
At a glance, e-waste appears to have little to do with social responsibility beyond the disposal of redundant client data. For all CSR policies, re-use should be an important practice. Re-using assets is always better than destruction, for both the business and the environment.
In a recent Blancco Technology Group study, 39% of organisations surveyed physically destroy end-of-life IT because they believe it is “better for the environment”. What they don’t know, is that reuse is a much more sustainable solution for electronic devices.
Physically destroying devices still in good condition is poor practice. These devices become unusable when in reality, their lifecycle could be prolonged. If these organisations chose to securely data erase their equipment for resale, they could earn up to 2,000 carbon credits per year according to C02Neutral.
Not only is reuse more eco-friendly, but destroying e-waste through improper disposal methods can cause assets to end up in landfills in other countries.
The UK is a large contributor to this waste, with 352,474 metric tonnes being estimated to be exported to other countries each year.
Are your destruction processes unsustainable?
Many organisation’s CSR policies may not consider that destroyed IT can be recycled. Because of fears of unsecured data sanitation, 52% of businesses physically destroy their IT instead of wiping and reusing.
Although asset destruction may seem like the most secure option for old data, it can leave information recoverable if not done properly. Along with this, some processes can actually be harmful to the environment.
Implementing an IT reuse policy as part of your organisation’s corporate social responsibility can help you reduce your carbon footprint. Instead of purchasing new electronics, your organisation can reuse devices, reducing the carbon emissions produced by manufacturing and destroying IT equipment.
So why not reuse the assets you already have?
How can organisations move forward with their CSR?
For employees working within their company’s IT sector, they must know and understand their roles within the corporate social responsibilities.
The Blancco report found that 33% of businesses had a CSR policy that was yet to be communicated across the entire organisation. This leaves some departments without information and unsure of what best practices to take.
Furthermore, only 14% of the surveyed businesses believed their policy was defined and is being implemented. This means that 86% don’t have a clearly defined and communicated policy for employees to follow. As a result, these businesses will have lost opportunities for reselling and reuse, potentially costing them, and the planet, more.
As the ‘new normal’ become common practice for workplaces, it is important to look over missed areas of your CSR Policy. Revising, a forgotten policy could bring to light missed areas and possibilities for better practices that would benefit the environment and business.
Read our S2S Group 2019 Corporate Social Responsibility Report.
Does your business destroy instead of reusing IT? – Learn about our IT Asset Management services.
Read more about IT reuse on our news page.
