Rising levels of e-waste is a major issue facing our environment today. The chemicals present can cause serious harm to our soil, water, and health.
E-waste is classified as electronic products (i.e. phones, computers, TVs, printers) that are at the end of their useful life. 88% of the 4 million computers and 3 million TV’s purchased in Australia every year will end up in landfill.
Sydney’s New Office
Recently, Clicks’ Sydney office underwent a move to a new location. To hold with our commitment to sustainability, we worked to ensure that our older devices that we were not taking with us would not become harmful e-waste. That they could instead be appropriately recycled or re-used.
Access to the best IT systems and hardware is key to our business strategy and success. However, we are aware of the wastage constant IT updates can create. So, to ensure we are being as sustainable and environmentally friendly as possible, Clicks partners with various organisations to divert our e-waste from landfills. Some organisations will refurbish our older technology to give it a second life and then donate it. In comparison, other organisations focus on recycling e-waste, which can prevent up to 98% of hardware from ending up in landfills. These e-cycle companies disassemble old computers and identify which components can be reused.
Who We Engaged
In the past, we have engaged Computerbank and MRI E-cycle Solutions in a two-stage approach to responsible e-waste disposal (read more here). However, on this occasion, we employed a Sydney-based IT asset recovery and e-waste recycling solution provider Excess Technology. They have a warehouse in NSW where they process computer equipment in line with internationally recognised quality, safety, and environmental standards.
Due to the age of our equipment, it could not be donated to any charitable causes or organisations. Fortunately, the team at Excess Technology can separate used computers and monitors into recoverable commodities that are eventually put back into the market. All electronics are divided into commodity levels such as plastics, metal, aluminium, copper, and circuit board. These are then sent off to be refined, smelted, or recycled into clean commodities to be reused in production all over the world!
Additionally, the team at Excess Technology provided data erasure services to ensure there were no security complications. “With our on-site service, an engineer will come at your location, bringing all the necessary tools with them to digitally sanitize your storage media in accordance with industry standards. This process removes data completely while leaving the hardware intact for remarketing.”.
We hope that you’ve learnt more about e-waste, and can put into place some of these practices next time you have the opportunity!
As always, please let us know if you have any topics you would like to see us explore in the next Wellness Matters.
