With the climate crisis and the overfilling of landfills, we all need to play our part in addressing the existing waste culture. When technology reaches its end of life, only 12.5% of users recycle their technology. This has led to a global average of 40 million tons of electric waste being dumped into landfills annually. E-waste is also responsible for 70% of the overall toxic waste in landfills, which contaminates our earth and waterways with mercury, arsenic, and other heavy metals. If they are not put into the landfills, they are incinerated, releasing equally harmful toxins into the air.
With all this in mind, businesses and individuals should discard their technological waste in an environmentally friendly way and therefore organisations like Bristol Waste Company are so important to help make this process easier. Working with Bristol Waste Company simplified the disposal process, assisting ComputerWorld in the disposal of old technology responsibly.
Bristol Waste Company aspire to help Bristol “waste nothing” for residents and businesses. Their ITAD (IT Asset Disposition) scheme is a Bristol City-backed initiative, where they collect the IT equipment that your business no longer needs. The equipment takes one of two paths: if it meets specific quality criteria, it can be safely and securely redistributed through the Digital Inclusion Scheme or Computers for Schools; if not it will be stripped and recycled. Bristol Waste continuously run campaigns like #SlimMyWaste, #BigTidy, and others, with the aims to inspire change for the city and reach sustainability goals.
At ComputerWorld we understand the negative effect that e-waste has on our environment, so we sought a greener solution to dispose of our old technologies as well as continuing our efforts to reduce the gap of the digital divide. Our senior leadership team are passionate about ensuring we are eco-friendly and repurposing our technology to help others.
“At ComputerWorld, we are passionate about sustainability. To work with Bristol Waste to ensure that our retired kit could be reused in the community, rather than finding a final resting place in a landfill for 1-2 million years, was a genuine pleasure. A fitting reminder for us all that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure” Jennifer Bennett, People Director
After emailing pictures and details about ComputerWorld’s old technology, ComputerWorld’s People Director, Jennifer Bennett, had a free collection booked in just a few days: 3PC’s 7 laptops, 27 monitors, one phone, 20 network devices, 4 boxes of cables, and 2 boxes of mixed electronic items, were checked and counted at the Bristol Waste site. These devices started the audit process, where the devices were checked and data cleansed where necessary; to ensure GDPR and the organisation’s data security credentials were met. These steps are in line with the accreditations ISO 27001 and BS EN 15713.
Physical technology itself and our reliance upon it, continue to increase dramatically. Many of us have gone with this advancement trying to keep in line with the digital curve, but some families and schools are being left behind, creating a significant digital divide. Some of the ComputerWorld technology that would have been traditionally e-waste has now been donated to the Digital inclusion scheme, which aims to tackle digital poverty in Bristol. The non-donated technology was, was cleaned, tested to be reused or recycled, to minimise waste and support a culture of repurposing.
Whether donated to charities or schools, stripped to be reused, or recycled; by reaching out to Bristol Waste we are taking the right steps to address a more eco-approach to technology and are proud to have contributed to help tackle other important issues, like digital poverty – highlighting that with a circular economy “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.”